Majora's Mask
by FakeJake93
Summary: Having stumbled upon the troubled land of Termina, seemingly cut off from the rest of the world and doomed to an inevitable apocalypse, Link finds his own past reflected all around him, dealing with these echoes while attempting to prevent the world's end.
1. Hyrule

_Chapter 1: Hyrule_

"You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you?"

The question hurt him deeply, and he found it hard to meet her eyes. He looked away at the horse that stood beside him. His small, young steed, her brown coat and short white mane blowing in the gentle breeze, pawed the ground impatiently. The horse was constantly looking up over her shoulder at the ranch in the distance.

"I'm sorry." He turned back with his dark blue eyes to meet the princess's. "I have to find her. I hope I won't be gone that long, but I need to know what happened to her. There's really no reason..."

"You don't have to explain," answered Zelda. The two of them were standing just outside of the giant wall that surrounded Hyrule castle's bustling marketplace, on the drawbridge that connected it to the seemingly endless, rolling hills of Hyrule Field. The sun was hidden behind the gloom of the cloudy midday, and the soft wind gently danced through the air, Zelda's elaborate dress hardly rustling. "I know why you have to go; I just don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to either," answered the boy, clothed in the green tunic he'd worn at the start of his last adventure. "But I have to."

"Even though it was only a short time, I feel like I've known you forever," replied Zelda, looking sadly at the boy in front of her. The green clothed, blond haired youth restrained himself from attempting to explain to her that they had known each other for much longer – in the future she would never know existed. He'd traveled across time to defeat the wicked man, Ganondorf, and even though the townsfolk renowned him as the Hero of Time, no one had been there in the future to witness his great deeds.

That peaceful period following his return to the present had just ended. After Ganon had been defeated, his dearest companion had abandoned him, the one that had followed him on his travels. The restlessness regarding his guardian fairy's departure had washed over him. His sword and shield were once again clad on his back, and the familiar weight of his utensils had returned.

"I'll never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule, Link," Zelda added. "And I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again. Until that day comes, please, take this." Link watched Zelda outstretch her hand, palm up, to show a deep sea blue ocarina resting there.

"I... I can't...," started Link, recognizing what it was.

"I am praying... I am praying that your journey be a safe one," she interrupted.

"Zelda, I can't take that from you," persisted Link, pushing her hand back against her chest. "It's a treasure of the royal family, and I don't need it anymore. You should keep it; it can't help me anymore."

"But it will. I believe that it's been kept in the royal family this long so that one day, it would find its way to you. You've put it to better use than anyone else has before; please, take it. If something should happen to you, it might come to your aid again."

Looking down at it, he took the Ocarina of Time back into his hands again. It had been through its power that he had sealed Ganon away. "Do you remember the Song of Time? The Goddess of Time helped you last time you were in trouble; I'm sure she'd do it again if she had to."

"Yes," answered Link sadly, slipping the ocarina into its usual pocket on his belt. There was a long moment of silence, and both of them merely stood together in it. Then, Link gave Zelda a small, weak smile, and turned towards his horse without another word. "Come on, Epona."

He led the young horse by the reins away from the princess... Hyrule... the ranch... home for the two of them. The horse looked back and forth between the two youths, confused at the moment of silence that prevailed. Link and Epona had only gone a few steps when Zelda broke it.

"Link," she called out, once more.

Link stopped short, wondering if he should even turn around; it would be less painful if he kept walking.

He found the urge irresistible.

Zelda, at a loss for words at first, found them. "Please don't forget me; don't forget Hyrule. You'll come back, won't you?"

Link didn't answer at first. "I promise." And then he threw himself over Epona's back, and the two rode off towards the mountains, leaving Zelda behind on the drawbridge.

* * *

Link groaned as he opened his eyes from his dream-infested sleep. He was lying against a tall, strong tree that made up the forest he was now in, the trees' tops creating a canopy of darkness in the wooded area. Link was unable to tell if it was night or day.

His long, green, funnel-shaped hat was still up against the tree as he sat up, having served as his pillow. The ocarina rested in his left hand. Looking at it, Link remembered that he'd been dreaming of the day he'd left Hyrule. It had also been the day he'd said good-bye to Zelda. This ocarina and Epona were now the only two relics of that life, and he vowed to never let either leave his sight, lest he lose those days forever.

Link stood up, brushing the now dirty lower half of his tunic as he got to his feet. He looked around in the misty darkness of the unknown forest, wondering how much longer he would be traveling through it. He'd left Hyrule by crossing over Death Mountain, which he knew made up the northern border, and was now attempting to battle nature on the other side.

Link opened a small bag of Deku nuts on his belt and popped a few into his mouth, going over to pet Epona, who had also just woken up. "Hey girl. Did you sleep well?"

Epona buzzed her lips in response, bending her head away from his hand to the bucket that was at the base of the tree she was reined to. The pail was now void of water, so Link picked it up and walked towards the small stream they'd rested beside. "I'll fill it up again; don't worry."

As Link bent down to fill the container with water, he heard a familiar noise behind him. It was a sort of twinkling, chime like sound that faded quickly, but it was filled with some characteristic of life. He spun around on his feet, dropping the pail of water and letting it spill out back into the stream. "Navi?"

However, nothing was there. Link looked back and forth, in search of the noise, even rounding the trees circling his small camp to see if anything was flying away. The small flame of hope that had opened up inside of him slowly began to die away, and he looked down and shook his head.

"Come on, Epona," Link said, walking over to her reins with a sudden uncontrollable urge to start moving again. He felt like they were on the verge of some great discovery. Epona, however, whined in protest when he began to untie her, and, confused at first, Link remembered that he'd not watered her yet. "Sorry; I forgot."

Link quickly filled the pail and put it in front of Epona to drink, slipping his long, green hat over his blonde head. He had no need to keep his other various items on his belt while he had his horse; while passing through Goron City, he'd bought several bags to tie around the saddle. The only things he made sure to carry on his person were his ocarina, sword, shield, and the Deku nuts, which served the dual purpose of food and weapons.

He thought about the twinkling noise when he was mounting his horse, but eventually decided that he must have imagined it.

* * *

Link once again found himself riding alone through the misty forest, in its mysterious, seemingly lifeless darkness. Other than the sound he'd heard earlier, the only other things that echoed through the forest were Epona's footsteps on the harsh, twig infested grass. They pushed on, nonetheless, wondering if it had been a good idea to go through these uncharted territories.

_Thomp... thomp... thomp... thomp..._

The horse's footsteps kept their rhythmic tempo, and Link felt his head bobbing with it, his eyes growing heavier and heavier.

"... The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you! Link, get up!..."

"I don't want to," said Link, going further and further into his half-sleep, the first time he had ever met Navi replaying in his memory. Epona trudged forever onward through the forest as her master fell asleep. "I'm... I'm... too tired... I had a bad dream..."

"Hey! C'mon! Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?"

"What do you mean... Hyrule's..."

"Link, get up!"

"Navi, I can't..."

"_Link, get up!_"

Suddenly, Epona whined loudly and reared up on her hind legs, and Link's eyes shot open in surprise. He instinctively grasped for his horse's reigns wildly, but his fingertips barely missed them. A moment of weightlessness caught him as he found himself falling through the air, falling backwards to the ground. He let out a scream as the back of his head slammed into the forest floor, and he rolled over flatly on his stomach, spread-eagle on the ground. The world was spinning and blurred, his head throbbing painfully.

"... You two fairies did great! I wonder if he has anything good on him."

The voice was distant and unrecognizable in the small amount of consciousness he had left; he tried to get to his feet but barely was able to move. He heard whoever was there speaking, small footsteps shuffling to where he was lying on the ground.

Link, at first, sighed with relief when he heard footsteps, but it didn't take him long, even in his incoherent state, to realize that the footsteps were coming closer to him. Before he could even take this in, he felt something stuck underneath himself: the attacker's foot. Link was then flipped over onto his back.

The dizziness returned at the sudden movement, and he looked up at the highwaymen with blurred vision. It looked as if its face was heart-shaped, with spikes coming out of the top and bottom. Whoever it was, he/she wasn't very tall, and had old, frayed clothing and a very large, witch-like, straw hat. Link could only moan as the person, if it was a human, began to rummage through the items on his belt. Link smiled to himself when he remembered that he'd put most of his items on his horse. The only two things he had on his belt were his Deku nuts and his...

Something was removed from a pocket on it, and the thief waddled away.

"Ooh, ooh! What a pretty ocarina. Hey, Skull Kid, lemme touch it! I wanna see!"

Link's eyes shot open when he heard his ocarina being blown into nearby, producing horrible screeching noises from the obviously inexperienced player. Someone else, no... two other people, one female, one male, seemed to be accompanying him, chatting, disregarding the boy they'd knocked over. Link regained the will to stand up, and did so, turning to face them.

He realized that the boy and girl accompanying the heart-shaped faced thing were actually fairies, each little glowing balls of light, only their small wings visible from the true sprite within. One was a very dark purple, the boy, while the female one... was a familiar white shade. He knew this couldn't be Navi, however, and kept his expression of anger as he looked at them. The fairies noticed him first, each freezing in fear, trembling at having been discovered. The heart faced thing was facing away from him, still laughing as he messed with the ocarina. However, he seemed to notice that the fun and games were over when the fairies stopped moving.

The thing turned around slowly, and let out a gasp of fright when it saw the anger in Link's face. It looked down at the ocarina in its hand, then back up at Link. Quickly, it put it behind its back, foolishly attempting to hide it. Link's expression was stone, not moving or twitching in the slightest at its attempt at humor.

He realized that the thing's face was not heart-shaped, but that it was wearing a heart-shaped mask, the spikes on the top and bottom also being a part of that mask. The mask was purple, overall, but was red where the nose and mouth would be, and green where the cheeks of the mask were. The eyes, however, were what stood out the most. They were wide, perfectly circular glowing orange eyes, with a green iris. They stared, unmoving at him, unblinking, drawing him into the orange orbs they were. Link tried his best to avoid their hypnotic effect, looking away from the eyes of the mask.

The creature wearing it was a skull child. They were typically playful, mischievous creatures, and he knew that it probably thought robbing Link was merely a game. It continued to stand there, trying its best to appear inquisitively innocent from behind the mask, unsuccessfully hiding the ocarina behind its back.

Link waited... waiting for something to happen, for the fairies to move, or for the Skull Kid with the mask to. Epona watched in the background silently, feeling the tension in the situation. Link continued to stare at it threateningly, and, when he realized he had to make the first move, he put his foot back to keep his balance as softly as he could. Then he lunged at the thief.

However, just before Link grabbed it in his arms, the Skull Kid flew high into the air, the fairies following. Link's hands only grabbed air, and he fought to keep his balance after he missed. He stumbled, falling down onto his face, trying his best to scramble back to his feet when he realized where the Skull Kid had landed: on Epona.

Epona reared angrily at the unknown creature on her back, and the Skull Kid laughed in delight, grasping the reins tightly and flinging them viciously. Epona neighed loudly and took off through the forest, trying her best to throw the Skull Kid off, while the two different colored fairies followed the thief on its new horse.

"Epona!" exclaimed Link, running as fast as he could after his last companion, his sword and shield latched tightly to his back, the Deku nut sack swaying back and forth madly on his belt. Epona fought savagely against the control of the Skull Kid, the fairies unable to influence the events further but to follow.

"Come on, you... stupid horse!" exclaimed the Skull Kid, kicking Epona in the sides with his feet, his voice sounding like that of a young boy's. The horse reeled back towards her true master, and Link took the opportunity to dive after her, managing to grab onto the saddle before Epona went too far past. He held on as tightly as he could, dragged by the still running horse, the Skull Kid laughing uncontrollably at the turn of events.

"Get off!" exclaimed the Skull Kid, his laughter ceasing when he noticed Link. "You're ruining my fun!"

Link's hands began to slip from the saddle as Epona continued madly through the wilderness, weaving in between tree after tree, narrowly missing each and every stump. Link grunted throughout the epidemic, trying his best to hold on while keeping his legs in the air. His skin caught on the ground at one point during the pursuit, tearing a long, slender cut into his leg. It began to bleed, but Link merely squeezed his eyes shut and held himself closer and tighter towards his horse. "I'm not going to let him take you," whispered Link to himself.

"Get off!" screamed the Skull Kid again, when something hit Link in the face. He almost let go of Epona as a result, and looked up to see the Skull Kid was reaching into his bags and throwing bombs at him. Obviously, the imp had no way of lighting them in the high-speed horse ride, but the bombs themselves made great projectiles. Link was bombarded with a constant stream of unlit explosives.

"Stop!" was all Link was able to scream amidst the chaos.

The Skull Kid obeyed, looking down at Link curiously, Epona continuing onward as fast as she could. He twitched his head to the side curiously, as if not quite understanding what Link had said. Then, he laughed. Link's face boiled with anger, but his grip was slipping, and there was nothing he could do.

The Skull Kid turned to face the front and reined her to the right. Epona stumbled slightly in that direction, and Link's lower body caught on a tree stump they flew by. Link spun off of the horse, trying desperately to grab onto something before he fell too far. His hands only met the new bags he'd bought from Goron City, and his momentum pulled them down off of the saddle.

Link hit the ground hard, rolling several feet before he came to a stop, the bags hitting the ground beside him and the possessions within rolling out onto the grass. Link laid there for only a moment in shock, and then he quickly got to his feet despite the soreness, with blood staining half of his left leg.

Link instantly ran for Epona without a second thought, not stopping to tend to his wound, or to pick up the numerous possessions that had fallen out. The only thing he needed was his sword, which he drew from the scabbard on his back, taking the Hylian shied into his right hand and charging tirelessly for his stead. Link did not stumble or falter, but Epona was too fast, and the Skull Kid and two fairies only got further away.

Link continued running nonetheless, knowing they'd have to stop eventually. He began to pant heavily, sweat breaking out on his forehead and back as he pushed onward. Eventually, Epona came to the underside of a cliff, whose wall of soil was broken by a large hole, and the Skull Kid drove her into its darkness out of sight. Link was puzzled as to why the Skull Kid would venture inside, but knew if it lead to a dead end, he'd be able to fight them.

He was at the hole soon after, and Link charged inside without pausing. He was plunged into absolute darkness, realizing how long of a tunnel it was; it seemed to run underground. He continued onward, until the next step did not meet hard-packed soil. This particular step met thin air, and there was no recovering from his lunge off of the ledge he had not seen. Link plunged down, downward into the depths of the large hole he'd stumbled upon, in the complete darkness. He continued to fall, no bottom anywhere in the near future.

He soon lost his stomach, letting out a scream as he plunged further blindly. Link's breath didn't last long, however, and then he was falling without sound, descending deeper into the chasm. Then, an entirely new feeling began to fill him. Visions began to flash across his mind, and he saw what appeared to be an endless procession of faces and events played out in front of him over and over. He saw them repetitively, the same things, the same people, the same actions, as if he was entering some loop that never ended, repeating back to the beginning every time.

The feeling intensified, until suddenly it felt like it was a part of him. It was still there, but now it seemed to grip him, and he had been forced to accept it and call it his own, never again to be rid of it. The entire time he continued spinning through the air, and then...

He stopped falling.

* * *

Note: Majora's Mask, easily, is one of my favorite games of all time, and it's not necessarily because of the game play. What I appreciated most about this game was the story; of all the Zeldas, I feel this one is perhaps the darkest, and has quite a lot of depth behind it. Given that the idea behind it in is incredible, it was a video game, and I feel because of this the plot wasn't able to go in as many directions as it could have. Therefore, I decided to begin this: a novelization of this one game in the series that I saw had the most promise for creative interpretation.

I've briefly skimmed through the collection of Majora's Mask fan writing on this site before writing this, and never found a complete novelization of the game; either it was stopped half-way through being made or was new writing within that universe. While there will be plenty of new plot elements/sub-plots to expound upon my interpretation of the game, I do plan on remaining within the parameters set by Nintendo. I also find it necessary to point out this interesting factoid: when looking up the game to see how many years ago it was published, I discovered that the day I submitted it happened to be the tenth anniversary of its release. I hope those who end up reading this enjoy doing so as much as I did writing it!


	2. Tatl

_Chapter 2: Tatl_

Link awkwardly got to his feet, picking up his sword and shield. He'd landed on a large flower, its surface soft and squashed flat, the hole at its center large enough for his foot to slip into. The flower was rooted at the base of a large puddle of water, directly beneath the hole he had fallen from. While it was a soft surface, Link wasn't entirely sure how he'd survived the fall.

He didn't have much time to reflect on the subject. A light suddenly turned on, blinding him. He shielded his eyes, but when they began to adjust, he dropped his hand to see the imp: the Skull Kid with the mask. He was levitating above the ground across from the pond, in between two five foot tall torches that now crackled with life. His mask hid all facial expressions, his arms folded across his chest as if he were relaxing. The purple and white fairies were on either side of him, watching the events with what might have been regret. Link didn't see Epona anywhere.

"What's with that stupid horse of yours?" asked the Skull Kid, losing his playful tone of voice. The change of tone was frightening, the words now icy and pointed. "It doesn't listen to a word that's said to it. There's no point in riding a thing like that, so I did you a favor and got rid of it." He chuckled, acting like he was trying to stifle uncontrollable laughter.

Link couldn't believe his ears. _Epona?... Dead? _"You...," began Link, but he couldn't find the words. Suddenly, all of his fear turned into anger, and his hand firmly gripped the handle of his sword.

His face must have expressed this, because the imp began to laugh. "Aww, boo-hoo. Why the sad face? I just thought I'd have a little fun with you."

"A little fun_?_" exclaimed Link angrily, holding his sword up and pointing its tip at the imp. He stood firm on the flower in the middle of the puddle, but was ready to fight. "You killed Epona!"

"Killed-?" inquired the Skull Kid, arms still folded, floating comfortably on some invisible bed. "I never said that."

"You got rid of her!" yelled Link. "She was the last person I had from home, and you took her from me!"

The Skull Kid laughed at this, the two fairies merely floating beside him silently. "It's just a stupid horse!" he exclaimed.

"Shut up!" Link yelled, cutting his sword across the empty air threateningly.

Instantly, the imp froze, all traces of humor gone. "Oh, come now... Do really think you can beat me as I am now? Fool!" Before Link could do anything else, the Skull Kid began to shake his head back and forth quickly. His mask began to sizzle with a vibrant spectrum of colors; light sizzled its way towards him, the magic of the Skull Kid filling the air.

Link felt the spell's grip tighten on him, shaking as he began to suffocate. He thrust his head upward to gasp for air, but then everything was black.

He was standing there, in some vast empty space, until he heard a shaking of many coarse leaves bristling against each other, swaying. He recognized the sound instantly: Deku scrubs. Link began to run from the noise, but suddenly it was everywhere, _everything_. The little wooden creatures were covered in large, red leaves that cascaded from the top of their heads to their mid-sections. They were little round balls of wood with toe-less feet, and had long wooden snouts below their glowing orange eyes. They were a head shorter than Link, but these Deku scrubs were in such large numbers that it was impossible for him to possibly stand a chance against them.

Link sprinted away, until they began to close him off, surrounding him with the rustling of their leaves. He covered his ears and closed his eyes, but he was unable to end the madness. He let out a loud scream... and then it stopped.

The Skull Kid was there again, still levitating luxuriously, arms across his chest, the two fairies floating by his side. Link was unable to read their expressions. He went to take a step forward, but when he did, he felt... his hands. His sword and shield were no longer there, but that wasn't the problem. His hands were made of wood.

He held them up in front of his eyes, completely shocked, noticing that his whole arm was made out of this material. His fingers and elbow weren't stiff, though; it was a moist, organic wood more similar to the trunk of a sapling than a full grown tree. Link looked passed his hands to see that his torso was also in the same situation, bare of any shirt; his tunic was gone. All that remained was a green pair of shorts made out of the same material his tunic had been, his legs and feet just as wooden as the rest of his body. Link hesitantly peered over the petals of the flat flower into the pond's reflection.

He screamed, a high-pitched wail. It sounded like it belonged to a very young, defenseless animal, which was true. The Skull Kid's spell had turned him into a Deku scrub.

A long, hollow, open-ended snout and glowing orange eyes stared back at him from the water. The only difference was that instead of long, red leaves cascading down to his waist, he only had a crop of blonde hair. It hardly covered his forehead, just as when he was a human. His long, green funnel shaped hat was still adorning his head, but it now ran the length of his entire body.

Link shook his head back and forth fearfully, his smaller heart thumping wildly in its wood-like chest. He stumbled back onto the flower and collapsed on his new knees. He'd been cursed.

The Skull Kid, meanwhile, was laughing uncontrollably, hardly able to keep himself up in the air as he pointed childishly at what he had done. "Now, that's a good look for you!" he exclaimed, floating backwards towards the hard dirt wall that made up the small, enclosed area. "You'll stay here looking that way forever!" The dirt wall, at first appearing unmovable, slid up as if obeying the Skull Kid, revealing a secret passage. The purple fairy wordlessly followed the imp, not able to look at Link any longer. The white fairy, however, was in a trance, staring at the screaming Deku scrub on the flower.

Link looked up from his fit of despair and saw the Skull Kid and purple fairy escaping through the secret tunnel. He ran after them, tripping in his new, small body, which was almost the same size as his new head. He crashed into the puddle of water. Link struggled to get to his tiny feet and ran faster towards the passage way. His little legs had to take an excessive amount of steps to gain any speed. The white fairy, not seeming to have noticed that the Skull Kid was leaving, flew into Link's head repeatedly, bouncing off of it until he fell over. She proceeded to stick her tongue out from within her bright ball, turning back around to return to the Skull Kid.

However, the imp and purple fairy were both already in the passage, the dark wizard flying backwards, still laughing uncontrollably. The purple fairy turned around just in time to see that she was being left behind. "S-s... Sis!" he exclaimed, but it was too late. The large, dirt door slid back into place.

The white fairy flew as fast as she could into the dirt wall, leaving Link behind in between the two torches. The fairy flew into the wall repeatedly, but she was unable to open it. "Whoa! Whoa!" she screamed, trying to get her voice through the door. "Skull Kid, wait for me! I'm still here! Tael, you can't leave without me!" She paused for a second, waiting for an answer, but when none came, she angrily began to recommence her slamming into the wall.

Link shakily attempted to sit up, still on the edge of the pond, not yet used to his new body. He managed to stand after stumbling a few times, his disproportionally large, but light, head dizzy. Link made some kind of noise he assumed would have been a scoff or a sigh in his human form, but it came out as some sort of high-pitched squeak in his new body. He dismissed this observation quickly and looked up just in time to see the white fairy... so closely resembling Navi that it pained him... ceasing to bang against the secret doorway.

The fairy's wings puckered down in dismay when she realized her efforts were futile, and she turned around sadly, her wings 'jumping' with excitement when she seemed to remember Link was still there. "You!" she exclaimed. All it took was this voice, which was in many ways _unlike _Navi's, for his anger to return. He felt his cheeks would be flushing bright red, his sword drawn at the sheer nerve this fairy had to speak to him in such a manner. Since Link's facial expressions were limited as a Deku scrub, he was forced to resort to clenching his weak, stick-like fists as tightly as he could, narrowing his eyes.

The fairy flew up to him, coming an inch from his face, but Link's orange eyes did not waver in their threatening stare. "If I wasn't dealing with you, I wouldn't have gotten separated from my brother!" exclaimed the fairy, remaining directly in front of his face. Link couldn't believe the fairy's nerve, and he was unable to find any words at first. "Well, don't just sit there, Deku boy! Do something!" Once again, Link was too dumbfounded at her stupidity and ignorance to respond. "... Why are you looking at me like that? What, is there something stuck on my face? Will you stop staring and just open that door for me?"

Link's next response was to try to catch the fairy and squeeze the life out of it. He let out what had once been a battle cry, but now sounded like a wailing, dying cat. The fairy narrowly avoided his wooden grasp, but Link recovered from the dive and landed on his feet for the first time, turning to charge at the fairy again. The fairy was still at his height, and quickly avoided another failed catch as she flew above the Deku scrub's head. Link jumped up and down angrily, shaking his head in frustration and wailing once more.

He took in another deep breath to speak, but all that came out of his open-ended snout was nonsense. Link tried again, but the rims of his new mouth were not nearly as flexible as his lips had been, and his throat wasn't vibrating very easily. "_Raing!_" was all Link was able to get out of his throat. He angrily shouted for a little longer, but then, all at once, gave up, collapsing to the floor in dismay. Link now sat there, staring at his own reflection at the edge of the pond and not even recognizing it.

"Please!" exclaimed the white fairy, noticing that Link was calming down. She fluttered closer to him, approaching from behind carefully. Link didn't try to say anything at all, not turning around to face her. He continued to stare at himself. He felt a tear trickle down his cheek, tickling slightly as it ran across the rough texture of his new skin. Link wiped it away with a balled fist quickly, giving an odd whimpering noise afterward. "C'mon. A helpless, little girl is asking you... So hurry up!"

The fairy turned away from him and looked back at the unmoving wall. "Ohhhh, Tael... I wonder if that child will be all right on his own?" The fairy turned when she saw Link walking somberly over to the wall, his head hanging down lowly as he did so. The fairy noticed how awkward his walking pace was, but merely stood there hovering in place.

Link, when he made it there, ran his tiny hand up and down the dirt wall, as far as his little arms could reach. "You have to pull that notch over there!" called out the fairy, flying over to him quickly, hope springing inside of her when she realized what he was doing. She hovered over a particular portion of the wall that, upon further examination by Link, looked oddly placed.

Link did not acknowledge that she'd given him any advice and grabbed the odd piece of soil, pulling on it. It slid out of place as if it were on a groove. The wall reacted by unlatching with the hard packed earth, forming a separate door. However, it did not slide open smoothly as it had for the Skull Kid; it had only unlocked itself for Link to open the rest of the way

Link bent down and put his fingers underneath the small opening, pulling as hard as he could on the dirt wall to slide it upward. His weak Deku arms could hardly accomplish it, but he somehow managed to get it wide enough for himself to squeeze through, letting it slam shut behind him... but not before the fairy had flown into the dark tunnel with him.

The Deku scrub once again did not acknowledge the fairy and began his journey through the passageway. Link had hardly gotten a few steps through the small, narrow tunnel of dirt and rock before he heard the familiar twinkling sound. It was the one every fairy made when it flew, chiming through the air. "Hey, wait for me! Don't leave me behind!"

The fairy caught up to him, and the little white ball of light flew directly in front of his face to stop him from walking. Link did just that, narrowing his eyes angrily and making another odd Deku scrub noise. The fairy took a deep breath from within the comfort of her small radius of light, trying to think of something to say. "So, um... That stuff back there...," she stammered, "I... um... apologize, so... So take me with you!"

Link, once again amazed at her stupidity, almost attacked her again, but the fairy seemed to sense this was about to happen. "_Wait!_" she exclaimed. Link held back his urge to swat her against the wall. "You wanna know about that Skull Kid who just ran off, right? Well, I just so happen to have an idea of where he might be going. Take me with you and I'll help you out. Deal?... Please?"

Link would have normally told her to scram, calling her a few choice words that bubbled within his head, but he realized he was in no position to turn down assistance. He was a defenseless, young Deku scrub, lost in an unfamiliar land, with no weapons or friends. The only thing that kept him going was his promise to Epona, and the promise to never let his ocarina out of his sight.

In addition to that, it was also physically impossible for him to tell the fairy off, in his current speechless state. Another thing that might have held him back was the unconscious desire for him to be a hero again, an adventurer, with Navi by his side once more. This small portion of him was satisfied by the appearance of another fairy, and Link realized he had no choice but to give into it.

Link nodded his head. The fairy jumped happily in excitement, turning back to face Link when she was done with her half-a-second celebration.

"Good! So then it's settled!" she continued floating just in front of him, bobbing up and down at a happier tempo. Link was about to reply, but stopped himself before he made another horrid squealing noise. Instead, the fairy continued, "Now then, I'll be your partner... or at least until we catch that Skull Kid. My name's Tatl. So, uh, it's nice to meet you or whatever."

"_I oo ont awk!_" exclaimed Link angrily in response, his squeaky voice incoherent.

"Uh... what exactly was that?" asked the white fairy. Tatl, as she'd called herself. "Scrub got your tongue?"

Link shook his head angrily again, a bestial habit he'd begun to pick up ever since being cursed. He stopped what he was doing, looked directly at the fairy, and took in a deep breath, hoping to articulate somewhat if he talked slowly.

"_I... sh-ffff... oo...you...d-d...on...ch...stalk!_"

"... I don't think that's getting you anywhere," commented Tatl dryly, already getting tired of his attempts at conversation. "Try talking from your... um... not your mouth, or something... your throat? I think what's making it hard is..." Link raised his alarming squeak in response, and he paused again, as if preparing to once again try to speak.

"Um... listen, kid," began Tatl. "I don't know your name..."

"_Ink_," he interrupted, hoping it had come out clearer.

"...Ink, huh?"

"_Ah!_" protested Link, becoming his _de facto_ 'no.'

"Or whatever it is. I think we'd better get going if you want to get your stuff back; who knows what he'll do with it if we don't."

Link was about to protest further, but he didn't, surrendering to the fairy's idea, and ceasing his attempts at talking. "Now that we've got all that straightened out, can we stop messing around and get moving? I'll try and help you as much as I can; I'm not really all that familiar with this place either." Link's curiosity instantly arose regarding this "place," but he didn't even consider trying to inquire further. He merely nodded at the fairy again with his large wooden head and continued to walk through the dark tunnel.

It was just about impossible to see in this tight, underground place. If he didn't have Tatl's light bouncing off of the walls, he'd be groping blindly. Link awkwardly began to progress through the tunnel that became more cave-like as they went further down, the floor of the cave cool against his bare feet, Tatl flying alongside him, lighting the way. He was very fortunate to not have toes, however, for he would have stubbed them frequently by now on the uneven ground.

Link couldn't help feel that some part of himself had been missing ever since saving Hyrule. With another fairy beside him, a sense of adventure was stirring again. He wondered if this feeling was premature; the fairy was much more annoying than Navi had ever remotely been. The Skull Kid could always just be around the next corner, which would end this whole short expedition in a sour confrontation.

"_Stop!_" exclaimed Tatl. Link froze. Obliviously, he had almost gone right over the edge of another massive crater of death. "Do you ever pay attention when you're walking?" Link, after catching his balance at the edge of the cliff, planted himself firmly on his feet and looked over at Tatl angrily. "Don't look at me! You're the one who walks like..." Tatl stopped when she realized he _was _practically a newborn, given the current circumstances. "Well, that doesn't matter; just don't go and kill yourself until after I find my brother."

Link shook his head, lightly this time. He scanned the immediate environment to see what possible route could be taken. The small, narrow tunnel he'd been journeying through opened open into a massive ditch. The floor of the tunnel sloped down into it at a ridiculously steep rate, as if some landslide had occurred years ago. Signs of some kind of ancient bridge were visible, though the debris now consisted of cracked and shattered stone. Regardless, the walls surrounding the ditch were too sloped to use as a way around, and he was too small to jump across.

"It must suck not being able to fly," commented Tatl, who hovered over the wide ditch easily, looking back at the Deku scrub after she did so. _It must suck not being able to open doors_, thought Link sourly, wishing more than anything he could speak in this new body. "I don't know how you're going to cross." Link didn't either; the only thing other than dirt and stone was some remnant of another soft, flat flower. It was exactly like the one he had landed on just moments ago.

"... You're a Deku scrub!" exclaimed Tatl suddenly, flying in front of Link's face excitedly. _Really? I hadn't noticed. _"You can use the Deku flower over there to hover across!" Link looked aside at the large flower, and seemed to recall that he had seen Deku scrubs sleep and attack from the inside of these plants before. "Go ahead and try it." Tatl floated over beside it, beckoning him eagerly to advance through this underground system as quickly as possible.

Link waddled over to the flower and stopped when he reached it, turning his head side to side curiously, wondering how to use it. The very large stigma he'd taken note of earlier was large enough for him to squeeze into, but it was so loose and wet that he realized it would take hours for him to accomplish this task. "Go on; don't be shy. We don't exactly have all day here," persisted Tatl, Link glaring at her before he slowly stepped to the edge of the living flower's center hole.

He stuck his foot out tentatively, but as soon as he placed it on the wet, mushy base, his foot slid right into place, becoming a part of the flower. It felt natural, easy, and _right_, as if it were made for him. Link quickly put his other foot inside, and he, with no effort at all, slid his whole body into the flower, rotating in a way that caused him to spiral down into its depths like a corkscrew. His snout was now the only part of him outside, sticking straight up. "_Whoa!_" exclaimed Tatl. "How'd you do that?"

Link didn't respond, at peace now in his new body resting in the flower. Even though his eyes were now inside of the moist, comfortable plant, he still felt he could see his surroundings perfectly. Now one with the ground, even the tiniest vibrations were noted by him. His snout, now pointing straight up, also gave him a keen sense of smell. It was perfect; Link could not remember a time he'd been more content in his human body.

"Don't get too comfortable!" exclaimed Tatl, after Link did not say or do anything for a good minute or two. "We need to..." Before she could finish her sentence, Link mentally sighed, releasing the comfortable corkscrew position without thinking.

Link was propelled at a frightening speed from the depths of the flower into the air. His whole body was free within a second, and his hands grabbed onto the stems of the smaller flowers surrounding the large one's entrance. He did this instinctively as he continued to propel into the air. The stems did not stop his momentum, so they were ripped from the larger flower and carried into the air with him.

Tatl watched in astonishment as Link shot several feet into the air, still clinging onto the smaller flowers by their stems. When he reached the peak of his ascent and began to fall, the flowers opened up like parachutes, the wind from his fall gracefully turning the petals. Link began to float down slowly, the petals twirling around like propellers and keeping him steadily in the air. Link, his feet dangling from his new height above the large flower, squeaked, but this time it was a squeak of excitement. He was in the air for only a few seconds before Tatl caught on. "Hurry, before you fall! Go to the other side!"

Link kicked his feet madly to push himself in a different direction. Very slowly, he began to turn to face the ditch, and he pushed himself forward, gliding over as the petals twirled gracefully on either side of him. Once he was halfway across, Tatl flying cautiously beside him, he noticed he was slowing down. It didn't take him long before he realized that the petals were about to give out. While they were strong enough to hold his light wooden body in the air, they weren't able to do so for long.

Just before he reached the edge, the two petals gave up, their delicate pink shades collapsing in on themselves. Link plummeted like a rock, letting go of the stems and slamming onto the other side of the hole painfully. His upper body barely made it safely to the other side, and he quickly pulled his legs onto the ledge and scrambled to his feet before he could slip.

Tatl was still hovering above the hole, flabbergasted. Link panted heavily in an attempt to catch his breath, his little chest going in an out. Tatl slowly began to make her way back over to the Deku scrub. Link looked up at the fairy, smiling. He felt well accomplished as he continued breathing deeply. Expecting some sort of praise or astonishment, all Link got was: "Flying's a lot easier."

He felt disappointed, somewhat, but remained standing and tried not to show any signs of child-like dismay. Link nodded his head for the fairy to follow, and then he continued onward through the continuation of the tunnel, the fairy lighting his way.

* * *

_Snap_.

"Ow!" exclaimed Tatl, the twig Link had pulled back smacking the fairy in the face. "_Watch what you're doing!_"

Link squeaked an apology, trudging up the inclined ramp. It was only the twelfth time he'd "accidentally" hit her. After the tunnel had continued on for quite awhile, the dirt had given way to a stone floor. Though it was covered in overgrowth and in the process of decay, it was a promising sign that they were nearing civilization. The dirt tunnel had begun to square itself, an ancient, narrow hallway now surrounding them, traveling uphill. The thick brush was difficult to venture through, and the Deku scrub never missed an opportunity to 'not notice' the fairy, and, by a purely coincidental mistake, hit her.

It was no easy journey; the brush constantly caught on him, putting scratches into his oddly textured skin and getting himself stuck occasionally.

"I bet it was so much easier to get through here before the Skull Kid wrecked this place," explained Tatl, Link noting that this may have been one of the fairy's first attempts at conversation. He took advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime moment and looked up at the fairy to ask her to continue. "He's been so reckless lately; I wonder if he even realizes how much he's hurting everyone with his evil, little pranks." Link turned this over in his head, agreeing with her sentiment that the Skull Kid constantly acted like a child. "Hey, look!"

Link pushed the large bundle of thick-rooted plants out of his way to see what laid ahead. It was a petrified Deku scrub, right where the hallway finally leveled out. It appeared as if the scrub had grown into the ground, its legs becoming roots and its arms and legs becoming tree branches. The only thing that distinguished it from a tree was its long snout and glowing orange eyes. It stared from its eternal position, its eyes filled with fright. It didn't look like its death had been pleasant.

As they approached it, Tatl silently floated over to be directly in front of its face. "It looks all dark and gloomy... almost like it could start crying any second now... How sad." Link paused for a moment to look at it, too, pulled out of his trance when the fairy called him to continue walking. The hallway continued onward, the brush becoming thinner and sparser as the dead Deku scrub was left further behind.

Link, used to only hearing their footsteps and rustling through plant-life, heard a different sound. It sounded like water, being churned by machinery. "Do you hear that?" exclaimed Tatl. "That's gotta be the clock tower; I knew we were almost there!" Tatl flew far ahead of Link excitedly, leaving him behind in partial darkness. Having relied on the fairy's light the entire way, he realized they were no longer deep underground. He was, in fact, nearing the exit.

Link began to run excitedly towards the water noises, no longer having to worry about stumbling in darkness or over thick roots. One foot after another, the walls of the hallway whizzed by, Tatl slowing down to allow him to catch up. His footsteps began to echo through the now solid stone floor, no longer meeting grass.

Soon, the sounds of the water were rather loud, and the last stretch of the hallway presented itself. He slowed his pace now, Tatl by his side, as they took the final steps. Suddenly, the feeling returned, the one that accompanied him as he'd spun through the darkness of the hole. It felt like a trap, some endless cycle. It felt like a part of him, as it had become during his fall, and he felt physical pain as he walked towards the exit of the hallway. The room began to spin, and Link stopped walking and swayed on his feet.

"What's wrong?" asked Tatl, stopping to face him. Link felt like he was about to vomit; the room was still spinning. He stumbled into the wall on the other side of the hallway. "Hey, snap out of it! We're finally there!" Link, leaning on the wall now, tried to look up at the exit in the spinning madness. He took in a deep breath and plunged through the uncertainty. The moment he and Tatl exited the underground tunnel, the sickness stopped. As if adding to this finality, a large, stone door quickly slid into place, preventing Link or Tatl from going back.

"You okay?" asked Tatl. Link nodded quickly, shaking the last of the queasiness out of his head. "Okay then. We can enter the town if we go through here." Link took note of where they were.

The were inside of a large, stone structure. The floor ended at a small, man-made waterway, through which flowed a powerful stream. The water turned a wooden wheel attached to a pole, that then spun around and out of sight, doing some job of its own. The water ran from both ends of the room through metal grates and disappeared out of sight, the birth and end of the water route hidden from view. The floor above them was not completely sealed off; a staircase lead over the water and came around to lead to the second floor above them. The entire building was rather dark, though bright compared to the tunnels they had exited. It was very dank, the air cool and wet as water continuously sprayed up over the edge of the stone bank. "Come on!"

Tatl flew over to the staircase, and Link wondered slowly over as well, trying to look around and take in the clanking of gears around him. The water powered the entire thing, his wonder increasing as he reached the staircase and began to spiral around upwards. When he reached the second floor, he saw that the wooden pole came up from the waterwheel and went straight to the roof. On the wooden pole, towards the very top, were large wooden gears that turned as the pole did, each turning the consecutive gear. Eventually, it turned a massive wheel planted firmly into the stone wall near the top. Link didn't quite understand what this accomplished, and he realized he would have to exit to figure out exactly what it did. On the other side of the room was a large set of wooden doors.

Tatl quickly flew over to them, sunlight peeking in from behind. Link followed, still looking above at the machinery with child-like awe. Just before he reached the doors, a voice stopped him. "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Link and Tatl, both startled, quickly turned around to see a man. He stood beside the turning wooden pole shooting up through the center of the floor. They hadn't heard any footsteps, or any sign whatsoever that someone had been following them. He wore elegant purple robes, but he had an overly large backpack thrown over his shoulders. Masks of all shapes and sizes stuck out of its many openings. They filled up the bag, causing it to bulge greatly; it was almost the same size as the man himself. He was hunched over by its weight, and it didn't look like he could have possibly followed them so silently, given his luggage.

Tatl, after seeing the tall, lanky, red-haired man, began to shake silently. Link grew confused when the fairy cowered behind him; it was not like her to act so frightened. Link remained standing in the doorway a moment longer, the Deku scrub and man staring at each other from across the room. Tatl silently shook behind the cursed boy.

Link stepped away from the wooden doorway, over to the man standing beside the rotating pole. He felt Tatl's hesitancy, but she remained silent, following diligently from behind. Soon, they were standing just apart from each other, the man with the large bag of masks smiling widely and happily, eyes squinted almost shut. The clanking of the wooden gears continued in the background, the water swishing back and forth as well.

Link stood silently, and so the man began the introduction. "I own the Happy Mask Shop; I travel far and wide in search of masks. During my travels, a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods." He instantly knew who the salesman was talking about, but the Deku scrub was still confused, not understanding the brief and blunt introduction he'd just been given. Link opened his mouth and squeaked softly. The salesman continued, smiling widely. "... So here I am, at a loss. And now I've found you."

Tatl flew out from behind Link nervously, but the salesman did not even glance at her. He continued looking at Link intently, and the Deku scrub was able to return his stare, Tatl still frightful.

"Now don't think me rude," began the salesman again, putting his arm across his waist and bowing, "but I have been following you..." He then straightened his back and looked down at the small animal thoughtfully, never losing an inch of his smile. "... For I know of a way to return you to your former self." Link squeaked in shock at this, and Tatl began to stop shaking when she realized the salesman wasn't paying attention to her. "If you can get back the precious item that was stolen from you, I will return you to normal."

He remembered... and knew instantly what the man was talking about. There was one thing that had constantly been on his mind other than Epona, and that was the sacred artifact passed down by the Royal Family. The Ocarina of Time, however, was now in the hands of an immature Skull Kid. Getting it back had already been an objective, but apparently this man knew of a way to return him to normal with it.

The mask salesman saw the acknowledgment fill the Deku scrub's eyes, and therefore continued speaking, "In exchange, all I ask is that you also get back my precious mask that the imp stole from me." Link's heart sank at this. He'd been intimidated by the mask ever since he'd first seen it, its terrible eyes imprinted on his memory. He knew there had been something off about it, but now this was confirmed, seeing how this man apparently needed it back. He wasn't able to hide his dismay, because the salesman's smile faltered slightly at seeing Link's expression.

"What? Is it not a simple task? Why, to someone like you, it should by no means be a difficult task." Link gulped, wondering how this man could possibly know him. "Except... the one thing is... I'm a very busy fellow, and I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up." Link wished to question him, to figure out who he was and to get more details on this imp. But he couldn't, not until this man returned him to normal. Once his voice came back, the rest would follow suit.

"But yes, you'll be fine," replied the salesman. "I see you are young and have tremendous courage; I'm sure you'll find it right away." Link nodded, and then turned to go back to the wooden door, Tatl joining him.

Link walked up to the giant, wooden set of doors and placed his palm upon its surface, ready to push it open. The door was warm from the light of the sun. "Well then, I am counting on you," called out the smiling man, as Link pushed the doorway open. The sunlight blinded him.


	3. Clock Town

_Chapter 3: Clock Town_

The townsfolk in the main plaza of South Clock Town, where the clock tower was located, looked curiously at the set of doors with oddly shaped, colorful designs. They were located at the base of the clock tower and hardly ever opened. Whenever they _did _open, though, it never brought anything of great benefit to the people. The first time they had opened, as long as anyone alive could remember, had been the only real peaceful visitor. The old man had stumbled into the sunlight and laid down on the pavement, a huge smile on his face. He had died right there before anyone could have done anything about it. The worst time, everyone would have agreed, was when the Skull Kid had come. While at first he'd only seemed to be a child playing games, they quickly realized the extent of his corruption.

And now, oddly enough, another child stumbled out of the doors. This was no human or skull child, but a Deku scrub. He seemed like he'd had a rough time getting there, fresh cuts open and a cloud of dust surrounding him. He stumbled out into the bright sunlight and, large orange eyes squinted in the rays, he brought his hands up to shield them. A glowing orb with a pair white wings fluttered out beside the Deku scrub: a fairy.

A group of construction workers in the center of the plaza looked up from their work. An adult Deku scrub flying low to the ground with his helicopter-like feathers, struggling with several large bags, looked over curiously. A tall, lanky man in a white jogging suit and large red hat, red bag slung over his shoulder, turned his head as he sped out from behind the clock tower. A small child, a peculiar fox-like mask covering his face, shoulder-length purple hair coming to his shoulders, looked up as he ran out from behind a corner in the back of the square. All of their eyes found the young Deku scrub, and he only stood there, eyes half-closed, at this new place he'd discovered.

"Where... are we?" asked Link. His eyes would not adjust, due to the their long venture in the dark.

"What?" asked Tatl, flying down to be in front of his face. The large, wooden clock tower doors closed shut on their own accord, with a strange finality. Link turned his direction from the bright blur of the outside world to see the fairy. Before he could repeat himself, he realized that he couldn't speak; he'd squeaked out the sentence without realizing he had. This new place – the sounds, the people, the buildings – all had distracted him. Link shook his head, rather than persisting, his pupils finally dilated correctly. "Yeah... you're still a useless Deku scrub, don't forget." … _that can open doors! _Link thought, rolling his eyes and then focusing back on his surroundings.

The massive clock tower, hundreds of feet tall, was completely made of black stone. A ridiculously sized wooden wheel was on the body, the outside rim tic-marked with various numbers; it turned slowly at a constant tempo, with the water now invisible to them within the tower. There was a white triangle at the top of the unmoving face, it's tip pointing to the exact tic-mark on the wheel that told what time it was. It was beautifully decorated, and Link reasoned that the time could be seen from any point in the town. A large, round part made of black stone was at the very top, rotating with the wheel. It appeared to have a light on the front of it capable of piercing the dark. He reasoned that it doubled as a lighthouse, even though he wasn't aware of any large body of water.

A ramp went around either side of the tower, going up a few feet before leveling out and leading to other sections of town. There was also a narrower ramp on the east side that went up to a platform sticking out of the clock tower. Another large door could be reached there, several feet above the one Link was standing in front of now.

In the clock tower's shadow was a small square, surrounded by smaller, though still towering, city walls. Several stalls were open on the sides, there was a large red postbox off in the distance, and a wooden structure was being constructed in the center of the square. Carpenters hammered away at the wooden boards and planks, logs also being carried to and fro by the uniformed men. The leader shook his fists in the air angrily as he called out orders to his men, hardly giving a second glance to the Deku scrub. Other than the jogging man, the carpenters, the purple-haired man, and a shopkeeper at one of the stalls, the square was empty, missing the miscellaneous visitors he would expect this place to have.

A large gate sat across from the clock tower on the wall opposite them, a guard standing in front of it clad in armor while wielding a spear. The gate appeared to go outside, leading to the other side of the town wall.

Link stood there for quite some time, absorbing everything in the walled square wondrously. "He gives me the creeps!" exclaimed the fairy. He turned to look at her, confused for a second; it looked like she'd been just as enamored by the square as him. Apparently, all she'd been pondering was the odd man with the backpack of masks. Link nodded in agreement. "That mask salesman was the..." Link waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "... Sorry. Just thinking out loud. But three days? Even if we never sleep, that still leaves us with a measly seventy-two hours; talk about demanding! ...Well, don't just stand there; we're going to see the Great Fairy."

He looked skeptically at the fairy, having forgotten the urgency of the situation they were in. "Look, you wanna find the Skull Kid, don't you? The Great Fairy will know what he's up to. She watches over everything. And... just between you and me... the Skull Kid is no match for the Great Fairy. We should go over to the shrine at the North Gate; that's usually where she is." Link nodded, not being able to contribute anymore to the conversation. "Well, come on Deku boy; this way!"

The fairy twinkled away from him, going up the ramp on the side of the clock tower. Link turned to follow Tatl, looking back to the boy with the fox mask. The boy was looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching, bent over the post box. He slipped a letter inside of the slot. The boy then turned and ran to the alleyway from which he'd come. "Hey! Over here!"

Link turned away from the boy and resumed following the fairy, who seemed to grow more and more irritated with his child-like curiosity. "Jeez; I swear, it's like you're a ten year old." Link took offense to this, not saying anything. He followed Tatl silently, pondering over the fact that, even though he was technically only twelve, it didn't feel like he was that young. He'd spent a good year traveling back and forth through time between the ages ten and seventeen, and had matured mentally and physically throughout this time frame. Now, however, trapped in this Deku scrub body, he had gone even further back in age.

The fairy and Deku scrub in the long, body-length green hat continued behind the clock tower. An open doorway on the city wall lead to the next section of town, and they passed through. They transferred from the wooden ramp of the Southern section into the dirt road of the Northern. Surrounding grass was lush and green, another large gate with a guard in front of it leading outside of the city. Children were running and playing through the grass under the bright, blue sky. It was a large field, the dirt road cutting across it until it branched off to go to either the gate or another doorway in the city wall. Like the past area, it was completely walled in.

"_Weet-ee-waw-in_," commented Link, looking around at the large area he was in, bigger than the first.

"Once again, little kid, I didn't understand a word you said," commented Tatl, hovering beside his head as she looked at the frivolous youth of the townspeople. "But if it was something about all of these walls, I completely agree with you."

As Link looked up into the sky at the height of the walls, he noticed something. While the sun was still blazing brilliantly in the air... there was something else, as dull and dark as the sun was bright. It was a massive hunk of rock, reminding Link of the moon, except it was dim, not reflecting the sun. It also wasn't as far away as the moon should be; while it was well up into the sky, it was obviously _in _the sky, and not in the heavens, hovering over the town forebodingly. It appeared ten times larger than Clock Town in its entirety.

The worst part, the part that made Link's legs almost give out in fear, was its eyes. The moon had a face. It's long mouth had its teeth gritted and showing, as if angry, or in deep concentration. It had a large rock nose as well, with a pair of mansion-sized eyes above them. They were the eyes of the mask the imp had worn. The large orange orbs felt as if they were penetrating straight through you, reading your every thought and rendering one completely defenseless. The moon was thousands of feet above the town, its eyes staring and watching... everything.

Link let out a squeak of dismay, and Tatl heard it, following his gaze until she saw as well. "That's... not, supposed to be there," said Tatl worriedly. "_Tael... what's happening here?_" She whispered to herself, and then turned back to the Deku scrub. "Okay... quick, we need to go see the Great Fairy right away! The moon thing has the Skull Kid written all over it." Link took a minute to break his stare from the giant rock gazing directly at him, but when he did, he nodded in agreement and quickly followed.

They ran through the field, taking the dirt road the majority of the way until they began to approach the city wall west of the entrance they'd come from. Stepping onto the grass, they passed the kids who were playing tag. The children couldn't help but stop and look at the Deku scrub and fairy.

"Ah.. cool, look! It's those things from the woods. What are they doing here?"

"It's just a little kid."

"What's that little ball beside him...? _It's flying!_"

"That can't be a fairy, can it? The Great Fairy looks so different."

"Let's go talk to them!"

The four other kids nodded in agreement, and they ran up to the Deku scrub, cutting his path off. Tatl continued flying onward until she realized Link was stuck behind her. He looked at the children worriedly, trying to go past them, but they'd boxed him. The kids were rather small, each wearing a similar blue or red outfit (only one kid had red), but he himself was an even smaller adolescent at the moment.

The one in the red hat and red sleeved shirt stepped up, looking at the Deku scrub with one eyebrow raised, a sense of bravado evident. "You're new around here... aren't you?" He spoke in the prepubescent voice Link knew he would, but he didn't answer, merely staring at him with angry eyes. "I'm just asking you a question, you don't have to be mea..."

Link charged at the kid, wailing in his high-pitched voice as he approached, the kid in red gasping. However, he managed to stop Link, the Deku scrub shocked at the tiny amount of strength he possessed. The little kid easily threw him off, and Link fell back into the middle of the crowd of kids with blue hats. "You're not so tough!" exclaimed the kid happily. "We were worried that..."

"_Get away from him!_" The kids turned around, and suddenly a small, glowing white ball of light with wings was flying into their heads and faces. The kids attempted to bat it away at first, but it always quickly retaliated, bombarding them constantly.

"Quick! _Run away from the fairy_!" exclaimed the red-hatted leader, and soon they all followed suit. The little kids ran as far away from Link as possible, the angry little fairy chasing them off.

"I hate those kids!" Tatl exclaimed, as Link got back to his feet. "They don't think twice about anything they do, and where are their parents? They're _always _running around on their own." Link looked over at the fairy, embarrassed; he hadn't been able to fight away a small groups of kids. What made the mask salesman so sure he could defeat the Skull Kid? "It's okay; it's not you're fault," said Tatl, apparently reading his expression. "Let's move onto the Great Fairy; she's the best lead we have."

Link nodded, and took a step forward to show he wanted to keep going. Tatl fluttered happily at this gesture, and then continued across the verdant field. Eventually, Link noticed that the passage on the city wall was not just an open doorway. It was a cave, with the entrance overgrown with plant life. Tatl flew in without hesitating, and Link followed, stepping into the stone-floored darkness. The dark did not last for long; he turned a corner and saw light.

There was a grand, stone doorway that lead into a large, very shallow pool of water. Pillars surrounded the fountain, all of the stone in the room a bright white. Shimmers of light fell in the distance and surrounded the fountain, the pathway Link was on leading directly into it. The water was of a beautiful, pure consistency; it was the purest Link had ever laid eyes on.

"Oh, no. The Great Fairy!" exclaimed Tatl. Link had been so busy staring at the beauty of the fountain to notice what was inside of it. There was no singular, giant fairy, but a group of twenty or so small fairies. They were golden colored, larger than Tatl in that they couldn't be concealed within their balls of light. They flew around crazily and franticly back and forth in the fountain.

Tatl, frightened, flew closer to the chaos of fairies, Link following slowly behind. He reached the edge of the water, tentatively putting a foot into it. It was warm, and the water hardly came up to his ankles. Tatl flew nervously by his side, and the two continued until the many golden fairies flew at them. They began to circle them, creating a tornado of light that entrapped them.

"Young one!" exclaimed a collective, feminine voice from the group of fairies. "Please hear my plea! I have been broken and shattered to pieces by the masked Skull Kid. Please find the one stray fairy lost in town, and bring her back to this fairy fountain." Then the fairies disbanded, and went back to flying in their small collective cloud away from them.

"The Great Fairy..." stammered Tatl again, still in shock. "This is worse than I thought; the Skull Kid is stronger than he realizes. Link, we have to find that fairy."

"_Iowa woan wee-reel._"

"And seriously; when will you figure out how to talk? I've met plenty of Deku scrubs in my life, and all but one of them could speak decently."

"_I qwan el-it, ee, ooman!_"

"You've been a Deku scrub for almost an entire day now; you'd think you'd have the hang of it."

"_Eit's oh!_" Link exclaimed, heading madly towards the exit of the cave. Tatl looked back at the fountain of fairies before following. "We'll be back, Great Fairy," she said. "I promise." And then shew flew out the cave to return to the sunlight.

* * *

"You haven't seen a little golden fairy?"

"... No."

"A Skull Kid running around with a mask?"

"... No."

"A horse? A blue ocarina? A purple fairy?"

"... No."

"Is that all you can say?"

"... No."

"Well, you're no help at all!"

"... I _could _give you a discount on some bottled fairies."

"Bottled... fairies?" gulped Tatl, floating beside the silent Deku scrub, who was too short to see over the counter.

"Yes, bottled fairies," said the lanky, teenage shop keeper. He unenthusiastic and lazy, leaning against the counter on his elbow with his head in his hand. They were in one of the many indoor shops on the West Clock Town strip. Tatl hovered nervously, her gaze glancing over to the bottles on the shelves in the back. They had fairies inside of them, struggling to get out with all of their might. The shopkeeper leaned over the counter to look down at the adolescent Deku scrub looking up at him. "Is this your fairy?"

Link nodded, not intending to give up his only ally at the moment. "Well... I guess I can't bottle you, can I?"

"_Bottle me?_" exclaimed Tatl, her wings freezing in shock. "Come on Deku head; this guy's no help to anyone."

"_Yawn yat me hat_," Link muttered under his breath, turning away from the counter and going to the front door of the shop. His arms being too small to grab the door knob from where he was, he leapt into the air, quickly grabbing it as he came back down. Link's weight turned the knob around, and he pushed it open and walked out, the fairy following behind him. The door closed, and the shopkeeper was left by himself at the counter.

"Freak."

Link sauntered away from the shop door into the middle of the long, narrow section of town. Directly behind the clock tower was that area that held the Great Fairy's shrine, but also indirectly behind the clock tower was the doorway into West Clock Town, where Link now was. Similar to the South and North areas, there was a large, guarded gate directly across the entrance, but the section of town branched off to the left into a narrow passage surrounded on both sides by tall buildings. Link had exited one of the shops on the sides of the alley-like way, and was now standing in the middle of it.

He looked further down the passage, which went on quite a bit longer on a declining slope, eventually curving around into a second entrance to the South Clock Town area. He began walking towards that entrance, looking up at the signs in front of the shops as he went, his eyes catching the giant clock tower that was easily visible above the walls. The clock read 1:49 in the afternoon; their precious time was ticking away, and the moon continued to stare forebodingly at the goings of the town. Link noticed something odd about it, and he waved for Tatl's attention and pointed.

"What...?" asked Tatl, looking at the frightening rock far above them. "Yeah, I know. The moon grew a scary face while I was gone and got a little bit bigger, but I can't tell you how it happened." Link shook his head and pointed at it again, squeaking. "I don't-" She cut off when she realized what he was trying to say. "It didn't get bigger while I was gone... did it? It got... closer." Tatl gulped, when she realized that the moon appeared larger even than it had when they'd first arrived. There was only a slight difference though, so there was no way to tell for sure. The fairy and Deku scrub stared at it for a moment longer, each overtaken by fear, until the fairy snapped out of it.

"No point in worrying over what we can't control," said Tatl, floating over to the other side of Link to calm herself. "Come on, let's keep asking people about..."

Link shook his head when he realized something: he was hungry. He hadn't eaten since his Deku nut snack just before Epona and his ocarina had been stolen. Adrenaline had kept him going, but now that things had begun to calm down, his hunger was undeniable. Link pointed to his stomach and rubbed it, and Tatl twinkled in understanding. "All right, I guess we'd better get this big strong man something to eat," she said sarcastically, Link not approving of her tone. "Come on, we should go see what we can get in the market. It might be a good idea to stop by the hotel first, though, since we're going to be here for a while. You'll need a place to sleep." Link nodded, and they followed the West Clock Town path until it curved back into South Clock town. They were now directly in front of the clock tower again, it off to their left.

Across from the construction site was a staircase that lead up to what Link supposed was the next section of Clock Town. They traveled towards the staircase, making sure to remain clear of the central structure and the many workers buzzing around its foundations. He went around the side that was facing the large, guarded gate in this section. The guard stood his ground in front of the opening, tall and strong, gleaming armor adorned and a large spear standing beside him. Link pointed to the gate and looked up beside him at the fairy.

"There?" inquired Tatl, continuing to fly beside Link as she looked at the guard. "That's the way out of town. There are a few societies way out in the other lands, but it's actually pretty dangerous... especially for someone like you. The guard won't let anyone through that isn't an adult or has a weapon."

"_I yawt a ye-in!_" exclaimed Link in anger, while gesturing with his arms, not stopping his walk towards the staircase.

"No... you don't. Skull Kid took that away from you, remember?" Link stopped walking and looked up at her, confused. "What?" she asked, flying in front of him, trying to read his expression, but then she suddenly sprung with excitement.

"_I understood what you said!_" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly. "This is amazing; you've said your first coherent sentence!"

"_I geeing oose oo ish,_" Link commented, looking proud of himself.

"Yeah... you're clearly not prepared for two sentences in a row."

Link shook his head and was about to speak again, but someone other than Tatl spoke.

"_What're you doin'?!_" Link and Tatl jumped in surprise, each turning around. The man who had spoken was a giant, tall and overly muscular, wearing a blue coat open to his bare, hardened chest. He had a bright white, full blown mustache underneath his nose. Age obviously had no effect on his health, however, for he looked like he could throw a grown man over the high town walls with one hand. Link, obviously powerless to such a monster, stared frightfully up at him and made a small whimpering noise.

"_Get outa' here! You're gettin' in my workers' way; we've got a carnival to prepare for! Either walk through or stay clear, but don't stand around like you're brain dead._" His voice was harsh and commanding, and Link didn't even bother to consider responding. He quickly turned away and walked to the staircase. "_Stupid animal_," said the man under his breath, though just loud enough for Link to hear.

The two eventually reached the staircase, which ran in between the large town wall to his right and what appeared to be the back of a building-sized treasure chest to his left. Link walked up shamefully, Tatl floating beside him. "That guy's just a jerk; don't listen to him. It's not your fault you're a Deku scrub; I'm the one who... uh..." Tatl stammered for a second, but then continued quickly, her wings fluttering in a way that showed embarrassment, "... the _Skull Kid _did this to you. But we can't find him on empty stomachs, can we?" Link nodded his head, cheered by the fact that Tatl had been two words away from actually admitting to a mistake... or even worse, _apologizing_. "Well, anyways, here we are!"

And thus, Link stepped into the busy East Clock Town square. Buildings completely surrounded it, Link stepping out from behind the treasure chest shaped one. There was another staircase on the other side leading up to a smaller portion of East Clock Town. The square had a handful of people walking around, stopping by the many food and gift stalls; large wooden poles stood in the middle, decorative banners and flags strung in between them as if in celebration of something. There was another large, guarded gate that broke the chain of stores and buildings off to the right, but directly across was the bar and hotel. Both buildings were on either side of the second staircase across the plaza.

This appeared to be the main market. South Clock Town served as a smaller one, a main entrance to the town and the main showcase for the clock tower. North Clock Town held the grassy, park district, and West Clock Town was the strip mall scattered with housing. East Clock Town must be its commercial hub. Link assumed he'd now seen almost all of the town, and he thought this section would probably attract the most visitors.

The two wondered into the middle of the square, Link slightly overwhelmed by all of the buildings. "The Stock Pot Inn is over there; come on!" exclaimed Tatl. It was a large, two story building, with a deck on the second story that held a very big, decorative town bell.

They passed over the beautiful square floor, going by what appeared to be two red haired twin brothers, one in blue and one in red, juggling small balls back and forth happily. Link watched them as he passed, interested in their act. The two were talking loudly to each other as they juggled, Link only catching a little of what they said: "... keep people smiling. No matter how grim things get, we must..."

"Entertainers," explained Tatl, "for the carnival."

"Ar-nee-ul?" Link questioned.

"Yep! Every year we have a big... whoa, that's our deadline, isn't it? Three days; that's when the carnival begins."

"Huh?" Link asked, not following her rambling.

Tatl sighed, but continued nonetheless, now almost to the front door of the inn. "Okay... don't tell me you've _never _heard about the Carnival of Time before?" The Deku scrub shook his head, the long end of his green hat stiff, but almost scraping the floor. Tatl sighed again, more aggressively. "Everyone comes though, from all over the world! Where are you from, exactly?"

"_Eye-ool!_" Link exclaimed.

"Eye... ool? Sound like a wonderful place," explained Tatl. "Try and tell me again once you get a little better at talking." Link shook his head, but then wanted to know more about the carnival, pointing to the decorations and saying, "Ar-nee-ul." again.

"Oh, right, the carnival. Well, every year we host the Carnival of Time, our biggest holiday. Tons and tons of musical groups come in to perform, traders come with their native foodstuff, and everyone is supposed to bring and wear a homemade mask. At midnight on the day of the carnival, the clock tower... you know, the giant thing in the center of town... _please _tell me that you saw that on your way in?..." Link raised an eyebrow; it could be seen at that moment behind the hotel. "... well, it opens up. The huge clock face points to the sky, and the staircase comes down and you can go up to the top! Pretty neat, huh?"

Link nodded, not quite understanding what this had to do with them. Tatl saw this, and explained, "That's our deadline. He said three days... and assuming he gives us until 6 a.m. to make for exactly seventy-two hours, the mask salesman leaves six hours into the carnival. Usually this place would be overrun by people by now; you'd have trouble not bumping into anyone no matter what section of town you were in..."

Just as Tatl said that, a man practically trampled Link trying to pass him. He was very tall and thin, but also very young; it looked as if he'd hardly reached adulthood. The man had a large red hat covering blonde hair and a white T-shirt with running shorts. An almost empty red bag hung over his shoulder. He managed to catch his balance ungracefully, twirling around until his back slammed into the wall right next to the front door, now covering the sign that read, "Stock Pot Inn, 8am to 8pm."

The man in the red hat stood there for a moment, panting and staring at the fairy and scrub. "Well?" exclaimed Tatl, after a moment's silence. "Are you going to say something?"

"Uh...," he stammered, looking back and forth quickly. "Sorry, I... uh... have a letter to deliver; it's the first in... a while."

"Well, we're not stopping you! Go deliver it!" yelled Tatl angrily. The man in the red hat, who Link realized was a postman, stood there for a moment longer, and then disappeared into the hotel. "Jeez! Some people are just complete idiots."

She stopped to look after the spot where the man had been just a moment ago, and then scoffed, turning back to Link, who merely stood there innocently the entire time. "_Anyways_... Before we were rudely interrupted... the town is unusually empty, and it's kind of scaring me. Take the postman for example; he said it was the first letter in a while, right? Well that's not normal either! I'm telling you, this place is supposed to be the most chaotic this time of year! I wonder what's... wrong..." Tatl stopped though, and when she slowly turned around and looked up at the moon, she thought she knew why. There it was, staring, its menacing eyes threatening death to all.

"Come on, let's go inside," suggested Tatl, and Link opened the door, the painstaking way he had to as a short Deku scrub. He found it hard to take his eyes off of the moon until they passed into the lobby of the hotel.

Link closed the door behind him as Tatl flew in beside him, his feet stepping out onto soft, green carpet. The rest of the floor was wood; the lobby was small, but nice, a front desk completely surrounding a doorway near them. At the end of the lobby was a staircase that went up and to the right, with a hallway wrapping around it as well.

"Ah! Wait!" Link and Tatl looked over to see the young postman from earlier in front of the desk. A thin, young lady stood behind it, and she looked oddly familiar to Link. She had short, shoulder-length dark red hair that came around her ears prettily. She was slightly older than the postman, with a long blue dress that reached her ankles. Link, however could not quite remember her why she looked familiar... and when he looked up at the postman beside her, he realized that _he _had that same hidden familiarity to him, too.

The postman was holding out a letter in front of himself, offering it to her. She seemed frightened, appalled, trembling slightly at the sight of it in his hand. "This letter, wh-where did you...?"

"From the postbox," replied the postman bluntly, his eyes squinted confusingly. He looked back and forth between the letter and the lady, not understanding.

"Th-that's not what I mean!" she exclaimed, growing annoyed. "From the postbox where?"

"Uh...," the young man stammered nervously. "From the postbox somewhere?"

"That's not what I mean!" she exclaimed again. "Listen, I need to know where you got that letter from!"

"I... can't... tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because..." And then the postman dropped the letter on her desk. He turned, walked around the Deku scrub and fairy, and then went out the front door, leaving the lady to stare at the letter. Link and Tatl stood there awkwardly for a moment, not sure what to do.

The lady, ignoring them for a moment, picked up the letter shakily and pulled back the envelope seal, slipping the folded piece of paper out slowly and delicately. She tried to unfold it with both hands while still holding on to the envelope, but she was shaking too much. The envelope fell from her hands and swung back and forth as if on an invisible pendulum, floating lightly to the floor. She pretended it hadn't happened, and she scanned the now open letter with her eyes. Her hands moved further down the page as she read on, and then she looked up from it. She took one hand off of the letter to cover her mouth in shock. The innkeeper set it down on the desk and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She then opened them as if to just see Link and Tatl for the first time.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, her voice slightly weary. She closed her eyes again tightly as if flinching from the sound of her voice, and then recomposed herself and tried to smile again. "I'm sorry," she said again, "it's just... personal problems; my life hasn't been all that simple lately..." She trailed off, but then gasped slightly. "But it seems I've lost my place; welcome to the Stock Pot Inn!" Link and Tatl were still standing (or floating) silently, when Tatl flew slowly over to the desk, and Link followed. "Name, please?"

"_Ink_," answered the Deku scrub.

"Mr. Ink, is it? One moment please," began the lady behind the counter, as she scooted the letter across the desk. She eyed it longingly before she looked away from it and opened a small notebook lying near it.

"We don't have a...," began Tatl, but the lady interrupted her.

"You do have a reservation? That's good!" Tatl looked confused at her, speechless for a moment. The lady opened a drawer in her desk, rummaged through the many keys within, and eventually brought one out and offered it to him. "Mr. Ink, I have you down for an afternoon arrival. Your room is our 'Knife Chamber' on the second floor. Here is your key." Link, before talking the key, looked up at the fairy beside him. Tatl was still just floating there in confusion, but Link merely shrugged, hopping up to grab the key, and then letting himself fall back to the floor. "Please relax," the lady added lastly, scooting the letter back over and pondering its contents thoughtfully.

The Deku scrub and fairy turned away from the desk and left the lobby, wondering towards the staircase as he examined his new key. "A reservation?" exclaimed Tatl. "You were _expecting _to be stranded here trapped in a new body, completely defenseless, and without a place to stay?" Link shook his head madly, shrugging and gesturing to the key. "That's really weird though... who would possibly make a reservation for us?" She looked away from Link thoughtfully, but then quickly flew down to him again. "Is that your name? Ink?" Link shook his head again. "So you took someone else's reservation?!" Link did not nod immediately, but instead turned to the staircase, making his way up slowly with his tiny legs. "That's just rude!" she shouted out at him, floating to his side as they made their way up.

"_E's or ay oo oz!_" Link whispered angrily back in response.

"Oh, yeah. ee's-or-ay-oo-oz, I totally agree," she responded sarcastically.

Link shook his head and scoffed, but did not press the matter further as they finally reached the top of the staircase. It let out onto a long hallway going left the whole length of the building. Directly across from the staircase was a door that read employees only, so Link and Tatl continued passed it until they reached the second door on the right, which read "Knife Chamber." "Sounds pleasant," commented Tatl. Link pulled out the room key, stuck it through the keyhole, and unlocked the door.

Two beds, two table stands next to each bed, and a dresser in the middle were all pushed up against the left wall. There was a table over a large red carpet in the center of the room, and an unlit fireplace against the right wall, wood piled inside of it ready for use. Two windows were the only things on the wall opposite the door he entered from, and light poured in from the waning day outside. The room was extremely green, thanks to the floor, wall paper, and plants. Though, it was brown too in the patches of bare wall where the wallpaper had been ripped and torn, especially near the bottom of the wall. The room, while in terrible condition itself, had decent furniture, and the important thing was that it was, in fact, shelter.

Link and Tatl entered the room together, with Tatl floating ahead of him to look around. She floated back and forth, looking at the plentiful holes in the wallpaper that revealed the wooden walls behind, going towards one giant, circular patch in particular. "What a ramshackle inn," commented Tatl. "Is this room first-class? You can hear whoever's next door, for cryin' out loud!" She returned to Link after this statement, the Deku scrub walking over to one of the two beds and sitting down on top of its soft, neatly fixed cover. "Well, whatever... We're staying for free, so we can't expect much."

"_Ood?_" Link asked, looking up at Tatl hopefully.

"Food... right," she began, going to hover over the other bed and face him. "How many rupees to do you have?"

"_Ull id oof in-al!_"

"This is starting to get really aggravating; how are we supposed to work together if we can't even communicate?" she exclaimed. Link responded by turning both of his palms up and showing his empty hands. Tatl took a minute to understand. "You... don't have any money... seriously?"

"_Ull id!_"

"Yeah, Skull Kid, I know. But we can't get you any food unless we can pay for it... I mean, why'd you say yes to going to check in to the hotel if you knew you didn't have any money? It's not like you _expected _to accidentally say someone else's name and take their reservation." Link had no response. Tatl sighed, "You're hopeless! The first day's almost over, we have no food, we haven't seen any sign of the Skull Kid, your horse, the ocarina, or my brother, and we have no idea where the stray fairy is!"

"_Oo-ee!_" Link exclaimed excitedly to Tatl, who was not facing him at the moment, but talking to him with her back.

"Oo-ee? What are you, five now? I'm starting to think you're just saying nonsense to confuse me on purpose."

"_Oo... Ee..._"

"You can stop it now, Link," but Tatl swore that some small, unpronounced syllable was hidden within the word. "What... is that a..."

"_Oo... Pee..._"

"Oo-ee? Oopee... Rupee?" Tatl turned around and saw the Deku scrub peering into one of the drawers of the dresser. She flew over to look inside and saw a small, pinkie sized gem. It was a perfectly symmetrical hexagon and looked like it might have been a shinier silver when it was first used, but it still served its purpose. What was in the drawer was a silver rupee, worth one hundred units of currency. "You've _got _to be kidding me."

Link shook his head, happily scooping it out of the drawer and going to put it in his purse. Of course, when he let it go, it hit the floor instead. He looked down at where his rupee purse _would_ have been before picking the gem up. It was gone, though, along with his pockets. "Don't complain!" Tatl said, reading his mind. "That's enough food for you while we're here. Come on! We can go out and finally get you something to eat, and after that, we still have plenty of daylight to find the stray fairy."

Link nodded, finally hoping that things wereactually going his way, and that his luck was not being prematurely celebrated.

* * *

"Navi...?"

The fairy didn't answer, but merely floated in place, hovering in the light that shone down from the window at the top of the sanctuary. Its light was brilliant, shining off of the spotless blade of the Master Sword that rested in its pedestal; its work was done, and now it would rest, until the next time a hero required its wielding.

Link stood in front of it, having just placed it in its resting place; it was over. He was done traveling through time, but he didn't know what happened next.

The two were inside of the massive sanctuary in the Temple of Time, its roof disappearing into darkness, the many open windows on each side of the octangular-shaped room directing its light to the raised platform in the center. Link was standing on that platform, having traveled up the small staircase to reach it. The entire room, beautiful as it was massive, its brilliant white stone heavenly, seemed to only serve the purpose of holding the sword.

"Navi," Link repeated again, his large green hat the right size for him as a human. His Kokiri tunic, sword, and shield were in his possession, either on his torso or clad on his back. He stood sadly, nostalgic already of the adventure now finished, his blue eyes looking at the fairy sadly. "Are you... going?"

She seemed as if she was; the white fairy, almost an exact clone of Tatl, was several of feet away from Link, and she hardly ever strayed that far. Directly in the light, she seemed to be contemplating something deeply. "Link..." she began. Link waited eagerly to see what she had to say.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I... the Deku Tree. He wanted me to help his child."

"You want us to go back to the Kokiri forest?" asked Link. He was surprised at how sudden this had come over Navi; they'd hardly had time to celebrate their victory, and already, she wanted to leave.

"... No," she said. "You don't need me anymore, Link."

"What do you mean?" Link asked quickly, taking a step forward so he too was in the light looking up at her. But he was on the floor, and she was far off in the air.

"The Deku Tree told me I was to help you realize your destiny, and you did that. You've done your duty as the Hero of Time, Link. And now that it's over, I'm still a Kokiri, and you're not. You belong here, in Hyrule, and I... don't."

"That doesn't mean anything! We can still be together," Link blurted out, and he looked down shamefully after he had said it. Navi floated down to be next to him.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "A Kokiri child has a guardian fairy forever, because they're a kid forever. You're not a kid anymore, Link, and you can't cling to your childhood anymore like this; you were no longer a kid the second you pulled the Master Sword from the pedestal."

Link, after a moment's consideration, looked up at Navi with a troubled, concerned face. "... So, I'll never see you again?" Navi only continued to float there. "You're going to become someone else's guardian, aren't you?" Navi still didn't say anything. "Can't we just have one more day... to celebrate?"

"I think that would just make it harder for me to leave," explained Navi. "This isn't easy; I love you, like a mother loves her child, but it has to be done."

Link, once again defeated, only stood there. He put his head down again, the sight of Navi floating there about to leave unbearable. When he brought his head back up, she was already flying away towards the open window. Link opened his mouth quickly to try to stop her, but there was nothing he could think of to change her mind. She was right; he was not a child anymore, but he still did not want to be left alone by his guardian.

Navi, now halfway in between the window and Link, was stopped by his voice. "_Navi!_" She stopped, appearing to consider whether or not she should turn around. Eventually, she did.

Link, at a loss for words at first, found them. "Please don't forget me; don't forget what we did for Hyrule... the times we spent together. You'll come back, won't you?"

Navi didn't answer at first. "I promise." But it was an empty promise, and he knew it. Navi turned around and finished the journey, flying outside of the window, leaving the Hero of Time behind next to the sword that had brought them together.

"You're weak..."

"No, no. I'm not weak," Link persisted at the voice that broke the white, stone walls.

"Do really think you can beat me as I am now? Fool!"

The orange, horrible eyes broke the scene of the sanctuary and shattered his dream... the eyes of the mask... the eyes of the moon. And he screamed.

* * *

Link woke up screaming, his human voice turning into a high-pitched, young Deku scrub wail as he came to reality. He was lying on the bed furthest away from the door in the Knife Chamber, a nighttime sky having shrouded the sun through the windows. Tatl, her light absent as her body laid dimly on a small portion of her pillow, instantly became alert. Her light returning with brilliance as she floated back into the air.

"_Ull-id!_" Link exclaimed, trying to explain himself when he looked back and forth to realize it was just a dream.

"_Really?_" Tatl exclaimed angrily, furious as she flew right in front of the Deku scrub's face. "Are you serious right now?" Link tried his best to quickly provide an explanation, but all that came out was gibberish. Tatl interrupted him quickly, "_No! Stop it now!_" Link did, pausing as he allowed the fairy to speak.

"You know, it was really hard for me to fall asleep. You know why? Because I was thinking about you, and how _useless _you are to what I'm trying to do. My brother is in the possession of the Skull Kid, and I've been following you around hoping that you could help me find him. But you know what? You can't talk, you can't fight, you can't leave the city because you're a child, you have to eat every day and waste our money. And you have to take up several hours a day sleeping! I've been clinging to you this entire time... and I'm not sure why, but I just realized... that I don't have to.

"I know it's my fault that you're the way you are right now, but I can't fix that, and there's no way you're getting that mask back for the mask salesman! The Great Fairy is the only one that can help us right now, and we spent all day looking for her stray fairy yesterday with no luck. Her fairy might not even be in Clock Town anymore... I was actually waiting for you to wake up, to tell you that... I'm leaving Clock Town."

"_No!_" Link exclaimed, jumping off of the bed and looking at her, now awake. "_Oo ant!_"

"I can," Tatl replied instantly. "I'll be back, but right now, I have higher priorities than keeping you company. I know it's not your fault that you're useless, but like I said... I can't help it. Good-bye, Deku head. I'll be back as soon as we can get the Great Fairy's help." She flew over to the door, but stopped before she went any further. "I'm sorry I yelled all of that at you, but I just had to get it all out. I thought about it all yesterday, and it just seems like the best way to get things done. You have eighty-one rupees left and a room for the entire week; you'll be fine, right?" Link struggled for a moment, and then nodded his head, realizing she was right. "Thanks." And then she flew underneath the door's crack and out of sight.

Link stood there for a moment, by himself in the hotel room, wishing he'd wake up in his bed again. It wasn't until a few more seconds of thought and realization that he _was _still awake that he realized what he'd done. The Deku scrub ran over to the door, jumped as high as he could to open it, and then ran out into the hallway quickly, going until he came around to the staircase and began to scurry down it on his small legs. When he rounded that corner and was in the lobby again, Tatl just disappeared from sight underneath the front door.

Link quickly covered the lobby's distance and opened that door too, now outside in the night of East Clock Town. "_Wait!_" he exclaimed, as loudly as he could... and as articulately as he ever had, he realized. Tatl was halfway across the plaza, several feet in the air, about to fly over the wall into whatever was beyond. She turned around at his voice. The two stared at each other for a moment, the torches breaking the silence as they crackled around the plaza.

Tatl turned around without responding, continuing the journey and making it over the wall.

Link was now alone, in the cold of the night. The moon stared down at him from above, closer than ever, and Link thought he saw happiness in its eyes. As if it knew what had just happened, and knew that it had proven to him that he _was _weak.


	4. The Second Day

_Chapter 4: The Second Day_

Rain pattering on the windows: it had been coming down in a constant downpour throughout most of the morning. Footsteps up and down the staircase and across the hallway: someone was pacing back and forth, maybe with as much on his/her mind as he did. Thunder, rumbling in the distance: the mountain dweller sleeping outside of the hotel's front doors had been right about the storm today. A depressed, adolescent Deku scrub lying on the bed of his hotel room, staring up at the roof listening to all of these pointless noises: that was himself.

At first he blamed the fairy's departure on Tatl's bossy, controlling, irrational self, but what if he really was useless? Ever since he'd come through the great wooden doors to Clock Town, he'd been following her around like a puppy, as if _he _was the fairy. While Tatl was abandoning politeness by ditching him, it was only practical; wasn't he only slowing her down by forcing her to keep him company? _She was right_, he thought, wondering what would be his next course of action. He'd woken for the second time that day quite a while ago, having laid on his bed in defeat. _Food? _Link nodded to himself, trying not to acknowledge his burning hope that Tatl was waiting for him outside the hotel.

The Deku scrub sat up, his head bare of any hat, the long green funnel folded neatly in one of the dresser's drawers. It didn't fit him anymore, so he'd reasoned against having its long end practically dragging across the floor throughout the day. His blonde hair was in the same bed-head due it was always in when he first awoke, human or Deku scrub, his orange eyes tired. He slipped off the bed, his short legs going quite a distance before they finally made contact with the floor. He stretched, his arms extended as far as they could go, not quite making it past the top of his rather large head, and the equivalent of a human yawn escaped from his snout. His arms fell back down to his sides, his hands just passing the point where his bare, wood-textured torso gave way to the green garment that clothed his lower half.

Link wondered over to the dresser and pulled open the drawer third from the top, taking out a pair of small, dark brown leather boots lying next to his hat. When he and Tatl had been going through the market in search of food, this had been the other luxury he had purchased. They'd been toddler sized; Link had never realized how difficult it was to find footwear with any actual practicality that small. After they had been fitted nicely on his feet, Link opened the top drawer, scooped out a red rupee, and left his hotel room, passing by the person who had been pacing outside his doorway. She was a tall, thin, young and red-haired lady in a casual white outfit... pacing, deep in thought.

Link passed by her and continued down the staircase, the lady turning curiously to look at the Deku scrub as he did. When he was on the first floor crossing the lobby, the first thing he noticed was that the innkeeper from yesterday was no longer behind the counter. Instead, a large, middle-aged woman with dark red hair was in her place. She bared a striking resemblance to the thin, younger clerk from earlier, but did not have the same air of familiarity.

"Good morning," she said in a rough, though still kind, voice to the Deku scrub. "I hope you had a wonderful night here at the Stock Pot Inn."

"_Wank you_," Link responded, noticing a definite improvement in his speech than in the day before. He completed his journey across the wooden floor, passed onto the green carpet, and then hopped up to open the door.

She smiled at this child-like maneuver, adding, "You're welcome." as he left the hotel room and closed the door behind him. The smile remained on her face as she turned back to her receipts. It slowly turned into a frown, however, as she looked back at the now closed door. "Wait a minute... w_hat did he say?_"

Rain was coming down lightly now, the gray skies of Clock Town sparing its inhabitants from the fierce glare of the sun. Link exited into Clock Town much less wondrously than he had the day before, looking up at the dark sky. He expected to have to step further from the building before he could see the evil face staring at him from above, but he didn't. The moon was now close enough to be visible from over the roof of the building, even just before the front door. The large gray rock hovered ominously in the sky at the same time as the sun's light brought day from behind the clouds. Link backed up slowly in awe at its size; it seemed to be descending further and further towards the very center of town, where the clock tower was.

"... Scary, huh?"

The Deku scrub, having been brought out of his frightful trance, turned from the glowing orange eyes of the moon to see a man with a woman and child beside him. The young child's hand was in that of the woman's: a family of three, it seemed.

Link nodded slowly and gravely. "I'd leave if I were you; my family and I come here every year for the carnival... but not with that thing here. It's going to fall; there's no doubting it." He looked over to his family, and then back at the Deku scrub. "The mayor still hasn't ordered an evacuation, but I'm not waiting for him to." He then walked back to his wife and child, heading towards South Clock Town as he bid him one last thought, "Good luck to you if you're staying." Link didn't say anything as he left. The main market district, East Clock Town, which was more of a ghost town than it had been the day before. The words of the man under the tower returned to him. _Except... the one thing is... I'm a very busy fellow, and I must leave this place in three days._

_That might be all the time there is left, _Link thought grimly, as he looked once more at what might be the end of Clock Town.

* * *

1:36.

Link looked sadly at the ground after seeing the time; granted he'd left the hotel rather late, nothing had been accomplished yet again. The last real progression he'd made was discovering that they were looking for a fragment of the shattered Great Fairy, and that had been over twenty-four hours ago. Here he stood, wandering around the clock tower in South Clock from behind the ramp, following it until it leveled out onto the flat square where the carpenters were still at work. They were as busy as ever, regardless of what was hanging far over their heads.

He continued wondering until he noticed something beside a shop stall. The stall looked relatively well attended and ready for use, despite its empty shelves. Behind it, up against the large city wall that separated this section of town from West Clock Town, was what looked like a very large, grand Deku flower. While it was in the shadow of the stall, it did not hide its magnificence. It was a pale shade of yellow, and Link quickened his pace to approach it, the tiny opening in between the stall and the wall hiding it very well.

However, he had hardly taken five steps before someone behind and above him shouted: "Wait! Wait! Hang on!" Link stopped short and turned to see a Deku scrub flying over one of the town walls into the square. There was what looked like a helicopter of green leaves sticking out the top of his head, spinning around slowly and rhythmically as he flew through the air. He was obviously an adult Deku scrub of some other kind, carrying many large, heavy bags under his arms as he flew in. He'd called out to Link, and slowly descended towards the abandoned stall, a few of the carpenters looking up from their work as he passed.

The adult Deku scrub flew directly over Link, his dangling feet barely missing the young scrub's head. Then he was behind the stall and inside of the large Deku flower, burrowing naturally inside of its depths as Tatl must have witnessed Link do, bags and all. It did look quite odd from a third person perspective, he noted. The Deku scrub's head popped out of the hole, his lower body still inside of it along with his bags. He turned to the child Deku scrub, looking at him from behind the shadows of the empty stall.

"This is _my _private property," he said, sounding slightly annoyed at the child. "Don't try using it when I'm not around! The last thing I need is a bunch of kids tearing it up while I'm gone."

"_Eye-oo ink it's oars?_"

"Because I have the title to this flower; beauties like this don't remain public property for long," he said, obviously understanding Link's childish Deku scrub babbling, but speaking quite articulately himself. "I mean, look in what a perfect position it is: it's in the middle of Clock Town, the biggest village in Termina. I can easily fly to the top doors of the clock tower when the bell strikes midnight the day after next, and it's nice and secluded behind this stall, which I happily use as my own shop! Why would I give it up to someone like you for free?"

"_I uz-n't oing oo ake it_," Link added, trying his best to match the way in which the adult was talking. He looked away from the adult Deku scrub, as if slightly embarrassed and put to shame by his own speech impediment.

The adult Deku scrub looked at him with his head tilted slightly to the side curiously, still safely inside of the Deku flower behind the stall. "What's wrong with your talking? I can tell you're trying to speak the words of men, but you sound like a newborn baby."

"_I ot a Eekoo Rub!_" Link exclaimed suddenly, excitement building inside of him when he realized he might finally be able to explain his situation to someone. "_Ee acht ull-id ast a gagic well nd ay ee ern in-oo a Eekoo Rub; I'n a oo-man!_"

The adult Deku scrub merely looked at him with blank, confused eyes, a frown across his face showing obvious doubt, or maybe confusion. Perhaps not even an adult of the same species was unable to understand all of his incoherent babble. "... Sure... sure. Whatever you say, but I wouldn't put all of the blame on... the..." He raised his eyebrow slightly, as if still trying to piece it together. "... the fiery... blue fern that gassed you."

"_Ut?_" Link exclaimed angrily.

"Look, don't blame me! I can't understand half of what you're saying; try talking more from your throat. You're trying to use the rims of your snout and your tongue too much, like a human."

Link paused for a moment, thinking about it, and then attempted to speak from his throat, trying to stop his tongue and mouth from moving. "_Eeee... is...better?_"

"Yes!" the adult said, "you're last word almost sounded perfect." Link thought about how he had spoken, realizing it felt a lot different. "But... before you leave... were you considering buying this property?"

"_N-n-... No_," he responded shakily, though still very high-pitched and not as clear as he'd hoped. He was also very confused by the adult Deku scrub's change of heart; just a few minutes ago, he'd been bragging about the perfect location and how he didn't want anyone else soiling it.

"It's just that... I've already sold out of my wares, and the carnival hasn't even begun," he explained, looking down sadly as he said it, Link only half paying attention as he continued to think about this method of talking, practicing on his own silently and unnoticeably. "I'm thinking of closing up shop so I can buy a gift for my wife and return to her in my village."

When the adult Deku scrub looked up at Link for a response, Link quickly stopped talking to himself and nodded his head eagerly, pretending to have heard everything he said. "I've heard that a stone called the Moon's Tear shines brighter than any other in the land." Link continued listening, waiting to see how this connected to him. "If... if you've got one, I'd really like to get it from you. My wife would love it! If you give it to me, I'll give you my spot here..." The young Deku scrub grew a look of skepticism, not sure how badly he was willing to go out on another errand for this spot. The flower did look rather appealing, and it was in a rather nice location... but did he really have time to begin asking around for a Moon's Tear?

"... Deku flower included!" the adult Deku scrub added hopefully, seeing the doubt in Link's face. The young Deku scrub, after a moment's consideration, shook his head, missing the weight of his long green hat when he did so.

"_No time,_" Link added squeakily, but much better than he had ever spoken before.

The adult paused before he said anything else, obviously highly disappointed. "... Too busy looking for the antidote to the fiery blue fern's poisonous vapors?" Link nodded eagerly, turning away from the adult and walking further away from the clock tower and stall, as the adult sighed and went back into his flower.

He passed the construction site for whatever tower was being built in the square, stopping in front of the bright red mail box, it's hut-like roof taller than him. Link looked around again, not being so sure why he thought looking for the Moon's Tear would be a waste of time; he was doing absolutely nothing productive this day, it waning away quickly. Rain began to come down again lightly as he noticed that the only thing ahead of him was the gate outside of town... where Tatl was.

But beside him, he noticed something he hadn't since he'd first arrived here: the alleyway in which the purple-haired boy with the fox mask had come from. It was just behind the post box, and now that Link considered it, it didn't appear to lead to North, East, or West Clock Town, but somewhere new on its own.

Link, hoping the best from a potentially new area of town, quickly went to the person nearest him: a stall owner who seemed to be packing away all of her items, prematurely and hastily. "_Hey,_" Link called to her, walking up as the woman turned from her supplies to notice the young Deku scrub.

"Hello little guy," she responded, turning back to her packing. "Sorry, but I'm closing; I can't help you."

"_No_," Link answered, shaking his head. When she turned back to look at him, he pointed to the very narrow, but tall, alleyway behind the postbox. "_Ut's there?_"

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "That's the laundry pool, and the back door to the Curiosity Shop; not exactly anything there you'd be interested in."

"_W-_" Link stopped himself before he said it though, not wanting to say something he didn't mean to. "_TH... ank you._"

"You're... welcome?" she asked confusedly, quickly dismissing the Deku scrub as he turned into the alleyway. It didn't end up being that long, but it did cut through the thickness of the city wall until it was in yet another walled area. It was very much separated from South Clock Town and much smaller than any of the other areas of town.

The alleyway let out onto a dirt road that stopped at a man-made stream of water, it flowing directly between two grates on opposite town walls. On Link's side of the stream, the landscape was neatly cut grass, with a small tree surrounded by flowers near the water, a bench pushed up against the left city wall. There was also a small stone bridge near the bench that lead across the stream; it was the only way to cross, as far as Link could tell. On the other side was a very narrow stone path leading to a door against the right town wall; he decided it was the back door to the Curiosity shop. He was the only one here.

He wondered around this small, yet pretty, area, not crossing the bridge and staying on the grassy side. There was really nothing here for him to do, as the shopkeeper had tried to tell him; he'd only had a small spark of hope that something useful would be waiting for him. Link walked up to the edge of the water and peered into its depths at his shimmering reflection, tired of the sad, pathetic, defenseless Deku scrub returning his gaze. He quickly walked away from its surface and to the bench, hopping on top of it and sitting down, his head in his hands as he sat there staring at the ground sadly. Small drops of rain fell into his short blonde hair as he moped.

How was he supposed to defeat the Skull Kid in a day in a half? He was a Deku scrub who was incapable of protecting himself, let alone attacking. He couldn't be stuck this way forever if he hoped to accomplish anything.

Link looked up from his thoughts when he heard footprints coming down the alleyway. The innkeeper from earlier – the thin, red haired one that hadn't been there this morning – was walking into the Laundry Pool. The young lady had an umbrella to prevent the rain from pattering on her head, as she wondered to the edge of the water, having noted the young Deku scrub on the bench. She peered across its surface and looked around the grassy area, as if confused... lost... not sure if she should be there.

The lady then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. She walked slowly with her head down to the bench, sitting beside the Deku scrub with the umbrella still over her head. The child looked up at her curiously, and she smiled down weakly in return. "Hello," she said sweetly.

"_Hi_," Link replied, unsure of what exactly to say; he didn't know her all that well. Yet, Link couldn't help but feel that he had forgotten her, from some other place, far away. The lady turned away from him for a moment, mouth slightly open, as if wanting to say something but not quite sure how to word it.

"Excuse me for asking, but... have you... seen anyone, since you've been sitting here?" Link shook his head slowly, having no idea whom she was referring to. It took her a while to say anything else after that, the rain filling the moment of silence; the two merely sat in each other's company, Deku scrub and human. "He has short, black hair... a very young man, tall... you haven't seen anyone?"

Link shook his head once again. "_Oo is he?_" Link asked inquisitively, trying to keep eye contact with her, even though she hardly ever looked in his direction as she thought and spoke.

"He... disappeared about one month ago with his wedding ceremony mask," she answered, her shoulders slightly drooped in sadness as she continued. "I..." Link watched her stammer pitifully, even more so when he noticed that her eyes were beginning to pool tears, one trickling down her cheek at a much slower speed than the light water falling from the sky around them. "I'm actually afraid to meet him... and to hear the reason why he wanted to disappear." She continued to stare off at the ground as she spoke, as if speaking only indirectly to Link.

"It might be because of... me," she admitted slowly, appearing to have held back this accusation from herself. She began to cry now, though lightly, one hand covering her face, just below her shining, wet eyes, grief-stricken. "There are only two days until the carnival... Should I wait?" Link didn't even gesture his head this time; he knew that this had been a question she'd asked herself. What input could she hope from this stranger she'd just poured her heart out to? "Kafei..." She said softly, closing her eyes tightly to try to fight back the tears.

Then she looked back down at the Deku scrub, as if just now realizing he'd been quietly and patiently listening. "I'm so sorry," she responded quickly, taking her hand to wipe away the tears hastily, the other still holding the rod to the umbrella. She quickly recomposed herself. "I didn't mean to bother you... but I just thought you might have seen him here."

"_Eet's okay_," Link reassured her, trying his best to smile at her.

She returned it weakly. "Thank you for listening..." she reached for a name, "Mr. Ink, was it?"

Link took in a deep breath, hoping it would finally, after all this time, come out right, "_Link_." The lady took no significance at him having said his name right, but Link did; it felt liberating, amazing to finally once again reveal his identity... correctly.

"Oh!" the lady exclaimed, "I must have written your name down wrong on the reservation. Sorry about that; at least my mistake didn't end up giving someone else your reservation." _About that_, Link thought to himself, though in no way prepared to actually speak aloud and lose his room. "My name's Anju," she added. "It was very nice to meet you, Link."

It felt nice hearing his name again, "_You too._"

The two sat in silence for a moment longer, having ended the conversation on a positive note. Each was occupied by their own thoughts, until Anju spoke hers aloud. "Do you think it's going to fall?" Link didn't need her to clarify; all one had to do was look up to know what she was talking about. It was indeed still there, as close as ever, but he had no real answer to her question.

"I don't know if I should leave; a lot of people already have. They think it's going to fall on the carnival, but I don't want to leave if Kafei is still waiting for me; I can't. But the moon... it scares me." Link nodded solemnly, wondering whether he should begin to worry himself with its seemingly inevitable arrival; he had never considered evacuation himself, having never really been a resident or a tourist.

But then, before anything else could be said, he heard a familiar noise. It was a sort of twinkling, chime like sound that faded quickly, but it was filled with some characteristic of life. "_Tatl?_" Link said, jumping down from the bench abruptly. Anju looked confused as Link ran to the edge of the water. It had come from somewhere over in that general direction, the twinkle unmistakably that of a fairy's.

His hopes slowly began to sink, until he realized what had made the noise. It hadn't been Tatl, but it _had_ been a fairy. This particular fairy was too large to be concealed in its ball of light, orange tinted, and fluttering quietly to itself in the shadows of the bridge. It only took a moment for him to make to connection, and his heart suddenly raced with excitement. _It's not over yet._

Link quickly ran back towards the startled Anju, running onto the bridge, his feet rapidly taking an excessive amount of steps onto its stone surface. Link got to his knees at the edge of the bridge, bringing his head towards the surface of the water, as if to take a drink. He stopped so he could just see the fairy underneath.

The fairy turned around, obviously frightened, and looked at the Deku scrub with wide eyes. "_It's okay,_" Link said, taking one hand off of the bridge and gesturing the fairy to fly to him. His knee slipped slightly, and Link gasped as he brought the arm back up to stop himself from falling. He found himself in a very awkward position, barely keeping himself from plunging into the water; he didn't know if he'd be able to swim in his present form.

"Link?" Anju inquired nervously, standing off of the bench. Link ignored her, awkwardly clinging to the bridge's edge, his head dangling over the shimmering, low current water. He could see straight through to the bottom of the man-made stream; it was probably four feet deep, which was an abyss to a small Deku scrub.

Link made a final attempt to talk to the fairy, trying to let himself go just a little bit more so he could see under the bridge. This mistake, however, cost him dearly. The fall was short and quick, and Link went head first into the water.

When he first hit the surface, his body flattened itself so that he was lying on his back. He thought he would float, as if a piece of driftwood. But that experience didn't last very long; the rest of his body sunk first, and only his bulbous head stayed afloat. His snout was halfway into the water though, and water rushed inside, filling him and weighing him down.

The Deku scrub sank towards the bottom, all of this happening before he could react; Link stretched his tiny arms out for the bank of the stream as he slowly went further down, but he was already too far away from it. His arms didn't even reach past his head. Soon his body began to turn up-side down as his head became the anchor that was preventing him from swimming, and he kicked his legs and arms to no avail. The shimmering surface of the water, the small puddles of rain interrupted by his large bubbles of air, gave way to the view of the stony, grimy bottom.

Link, his mind empty and frantic, slowly began to drown. No matter how hard he tried to remain conscious, tried to kick his legs, tried to fight the nauseating sensation of his head filling with water, he found that he could only accomplish less and less; his muscles were only allowing him to do so much.

Then the nausea increased as he suddenly rose to the surface much quicker than he had sunk, just before his head reached the bottom. When he broke the surface of the stream into the open air, the first thing he expecting to do was breathe. However, Anju had reached into the water and pulled him out by grabbing him under his arms; therefore, he was facing right-side up, and the water was unable to leave his snout. Link was outside of the water and still drowning, still half-unconscious, still hardly able to see amidst the fuzzy white light filling his vision, or hear amongst the ringing noise.

Anju, holding the Deku scrub on her knees at the bank, laid his limp body on the grass, noticing that water had been leaking out of his snout. She turned him onto his side, his body hardly weighing anything compared to his full head. Water quickly rushed out onto the dry grass. Link coughed and spat, water leaving his lungs and head as his whole body lurched with the effort. Then, after moments of Anju bent down on the grass and Link on his hands and knees coughing out water, Link was able to breathe harsh, deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" asked Anju, looking down worriedly at the Deku scrub.

Link, breathing in deeply, turned around to sit facing her, nodding his head, the dizziness subsiding. "_Thank you,_" Link said, and he realized that this had been the clearest he had even spoken; even though his throat was sore, it was also now moist. He'd taken a few sips of water since his entry to Clock Town, but he never realized how much drinking made it easier to speak while a Deku scrub.

"That could have ended badly; what were you looking at?"

Anju's question was answered without Link having to say anything; the fairy, shyly and tentatively, flew out from under the bridge to the adult and the Deku scrub. It's orange body hovered gracefully over the water, now in between them both.

"Please," the fairy spoke, in a high-pitched voice, though much more beautifully and delicately than Link's Deku scrub one. It flew closer to Link and met his eyes. Anju merely watched with interest, still not standing up, everyone else in her presence much shorter and smaller than her. "Hear my plea."

"_The G-ate Fairy,_" Link said, as if hoping this would explain things. The fairy did not seem to understand, and neither did Anju.

"The masked Skull Kid has broken me apart and scattered my pieces. Please return me to my Fairy Fountain in North Clock Town." She looked pleadingly at him, not wanting to go out in the open out of fear of something. Link thought he knew what it was, and when he looked up at the moon, the fairy turned to look at it too. It let out a small squeak and flew behind Link quickly, cowering in fear of its all seeing gaze. "The moon has the Skull Kid's eyes."

Link turned pitifully to look at the small creature, smaller and more defenseless then himself, he realized. "Who is the Skull Kid?" asked Anju, wondering if she was now caught up into the following events, or if she was a mere bystander. "Is he the one who's making the moon fall?"

Link nodded, and the fairy behind him made a noise that seemed to confirm this, not coming out to face Anju. "_I need to take her to the fountain,_" Link said to Anju, realizing that this was the longest thing he'd said coherently since losing his human body.

"All right... I understand," Anju said, somewhat disappointed, though she made sure not to show it. Link jumped to his feet and took a few steps towards the alleyway to South Clock Town, the shock from his near-death experience almost gone. The fairy followed closely behind him, making sure to always block the moon out with the Deku scrub's body, which was a challenge, given how small it was.

Link turned back to face Anju before he left; she was still on her knees at the edge of the water. "_I look for Coffee too,_" Link said, making Anju smile slightly. "_I will help you az oon zs I top the Ull Id._"

"Okay," Anju said, as Link left the Laundry Pool with the new fairy.

Anju looked over at the umbrella she'd dropped next to the bench, still fully open. Her hair had gotten damp from the rain, but only the lower half of her arms were wet from pulling Link out of the water. The smile faded, and she merely sat there in the rain for a while, the sadness returning as the adrenaline left.

* * *

_I'm not useless; I'm not useless. I can do this by myself_. Link happily ran through the grassy cave entrance, plunging into the darkness that immediately gave way to the light of the fairy fountain. The orange fairy, now safely in the cave and out of sight of the moon, flew past him and in between the pillars amidst the other orange fairies in the fountain.

The fairies did not converse or greet each other, but merely began to fly around in circles as one, as if the stray fairy had never left the group. The ball they were making began to become smaller and denser... denser still... until they were a singular orb of orange light. Link squinted his eyes in astonishment, taking a few steps closer until he was at the very edge of the clear water. Suddenly, the orange ball exploded into a mass array of light, causing him to gasp and close his eyes from the blinding flash, rubbing them quickly and opening them to see what was happening next.

Something grew from the explosion, laughing merrily as it was finally whole again. This creature appeared to be a grown woman, though much larger than an average human. She was thin and beautiful, Link thought, her arms stretched out into the air as she escaped from her confinements and grew to her true size. The Great Fairy then relaxed, floating in the air a few feet above the water. She seemed to be resting on an invisible bed, her arm supporting her head as she looked down on Link, comparable to the way the Skull Kid had floated when he had mocked Epona and cursed him. She had long, flowing orange hair that floated freely, as though it were stirring gently in the wind. She was bare of any clothing, her pale skin naked except for the vines and plant life that loosely covered her. The Great Fairy, a pleasant smile on her face, her body stretched out on an invisible table, feet crossed at the ankles, was very familiar to Link; there had been Great Fairies in Hyrule.

"Young one of the altered shape," the orange-haired Great Fairy began, bobbing slowly up and down in her position over the water, "thank you for returning my broken and shattered body to normal." Link, happy that someone finally understood that he was not supposed to be a Deku scrub, had no objections to returning her body to its normal form; all the Great Fairies he had met were absolutely beautiful. Then, hope sprung inside of him, one that swallowed him up in its excitement. _Can she return me to normal?_

"I am the Great Fairy of Magic. I thought the masked child was helping me, and I grew careless." _Magic, _Link thought happily, a smile spreading on the rims of his snout. "All I can offer you is this: I shall grant you Magic Power as a sign of my gratitude. Please accept it." Suddenly, Link couldn't contain his excitement. He ran up closer to her, so that his feet were now in the water.

The Great Fairy laughed lightly at his act of eagerness, and she floated into an upright position, backing away from him and holding out her hands, cupping them together palm-up. Link waited for something to happen, but when nothing did, he opened his mouth, to ask if he was doing something wrong. Then, he was lifted off of his feet, and Link floated slowly upward, his feet leaving the ground as he was lifted gracefully into the orange light that had spiraled down from the black darkness of the roof. He grew dizzy and faint, his mind numb as the light overpowered him.

Then he gently was put back on his feet, and the light faded away with the dizziness. He felt incredible, as soon as the side effects wore off. A new power felt like it had been granted to him; he felt it coursing through his small body. For the first time, he felt happy and content in his Deku scrub form.

"I know why Tatl left you, and why you doubt yourself," the Great Fairy said, and Link turned from examining himself as if to find the power, to looking up at the fairy who had given it to him. "But trust me when I say, that you have more power than you know, a power that the darkness in the mask the Skull Kid wears cannot possibly fathom; my Magic Power will help you while you are in your cursed form, but it in no way compares to the magic you yourself possess."

Link nodded, not understanding what she was talking about, liking the Magic Power much better than anything he'd had before this. She saw the doubt in his eyes, and therefore did not press that topic further. "The man who lives in the observatory outside of town may know of the Skull Kid's whereabouts. But be careful! You must not underestimate the dark powers of the mask; they will try to destroy you... and if they fail in doing so, corrupt you. They will stop at nothing to consume you, kind young one. If ever you are returned to your former shape, come see me. I shall give you more help, but I can do no more than that. The Skull Kid is far more powerful than I feared, and my magic is nothing against his."

And then, she threw her arms up into the air again and laughed merrily, growing smaller and smaller, until she disappeared into a ball of orange light and was gone, no smaller stray fairies left. _If ever you are returned to your former shape... _Link was still standing in the water near the entrance to the cave, and he looked down into reflection of the water, hoping he would see his blue eyes looking back at him. But they weren't there, as he'd expected. Only the orange eyes of a different animal were.

Link turned away from the fountain and began to head to the North Clock Town field. He passed through the dark portion of the cave and then was once again in the sunlight, fiercer now that it was setting. It had broken through the clouds, the back of the clock tower unable to tell him what time it was. Link looked down at his hands again, wondering what his power had been, and wondering when he would find out. The small Deku scrub walked down the slope thoughtfully, not sure how he was supposed to get outside of town. Tatl told him they would not let him leave, but Link decided to test this theory. He walked across the grassy field towards the large gate, which took a good minute, the guard tall and erect in its path, his long spear in his right hand standing tall beside him.

He stepped onto the path in the last bit of the journey, and then he was face to face with the guard, his eyes hidden in the shadows of his visor, metal armor shiny in the light of the sun. Link only came up to his thigh. "Have you some errand in the mountains?" Link was intimidated by his deep, commanding voice, but he nodded his head, nonetheless, not realizing that there were mountains on the other side of the town wall. "It's dangerous outside the town walls, so I cannot allow a child like you to pass through here. Return once you are old enough to carry a weapon and can defend yourself." _... a child like you..._

"_I'm not a child!_" Link exclaimed angrily, but the squeakiness of his voice reminded him that he was.

"It's okay; all of us have to be little at some point in our lives. Go find your parents before I bring you back to them; a child your age shouldn't be running around unprotected."

"_I'm not defenseless!_" Link yelled, but when he reached for his sword behind his back, it wasn't there, and his hand felt empty and defeated once it came back to rest in front of him. Then he realized he'd gotten off topic in his outrage, and Link looked back up at him and cleared his throat. "_I'm trying to stop the moon from falling_," he explained.

"Well," the guard began, smiling down at the child, "the moon's over there, tyke, above the clock tower. You're going the wrong way."

"_No! I need to find the man who's doing this to the moon; he's not here in Clock Town!_" Link felt slightly proud behind the anger, at his improved speech. While it still wasn't completely normal, given his body's young age, it was definitely understandable.

"A man is doing this? How does a man fly into the sky and put a face on the moon?"

"_He has an evil mask! Look, I have Magic Powers, I can stop him._"

The guard laughed to himself, though remaining tall and firm in his upright position. "Look, I don't have time to waste talking to little children; go play with the other kids unless you can lift me into the air and move me with your... _magic _powers."

Link stormed off angrily, a large frown displayed as he left to go back into South Clock Town. Kids had been standing next to the guard and watching the conversation, whispering to each other and snickering. The group of five children then followed the Deku scrub, but Link did not turn to face them or stop walking, recognizing them as the kids from earlier.

"Hey! Hey you!" It was the voice of the kid with the red hat and shirt, the leader of their little gang. He was probably only seven years of age. He kept walking though, and did not turn to face him. "Stop!" Link didn't, until the kid jumped in front of him, cutting him off and making the Deku scrub pause. The look of anger he'd given the guard only intensified.

"_Go away,_" Link said abruptly.

"Make me," he said. "You have magic powers, don't you?" He laughed, and the other blue hatted, blue shirted kids surrounding him began to laugh too.

"Yeah, he doesn't even have a broom!"

"Only old people can do magic."

"Or is that fairy going to stop us?" the red-hatted leader asked, after the blue ones had finished their commentaries.

"That monster fairy!" exclaimed one of the other kids behind him.

"He almost ate my face off last time; I saw its teeth!" added another one.

"_I don't have time for you snot-nosed little kids!_" Link exclaimed. "_Get out of my way before I _make _you move_."

"Do it," the leader added, and the other kids ooh-ed and awe-ed in shock. Link didn't know how he did it, but he did, finally discovering the magic power the fairy had given him.

The leader's face showed absolute disgust when some sort of thick, green bubble began to form at the scrub's mouth, growing larger rapidly. Link's face was contorted in anger, frustration, and concentration. The bubble stayed there for a moment, shaking back and forth madly once it reach its capacity, a look of utter confusion on the faces of the children. The bubble was perhaps as big Link's head, and when he stopped blowing into it, it released like an untied balloon, except with direction. It hit the grass at the kids feet, whistling through the air as it did so.

It exploded, causing all of the children to jump back as green goop was released from the confines of the bubble. None of it hit them, but they all stared at the unknown green, thick, slimy substance in the grass that had just come from inside of the Deku scrub.

A moment of silence resulted, Link just as surprised as everyone else there.

"... That was so awesome!"

"Yeah, he shot a magic poison ball at you!"

"He _is _a magician!"

"But he's not old?"

The leader of the gang, now separated from Link by the puddle on the ground, looked up at the Deku scrub without taking a step closer, the other kids now standing behind him, in awe. "Not bad... for a Deku scrub."

Link almost smiled in pride, but he stopped himself from doing that, composing himself and keeping a straight face. He wasn't sure what had just happened, and was slightly disgusted by it. But he was now no longer defenseless. "We Bombers have a hideout in the alleyway in East Clock Town. It leads to the observatory outside of town. You need a code to get in though." The red hatted kid looked behind at the blue hatted ones. "Should we tell him?"

They seemed to think about it for a moment, but they didn't hesitate with their answer. "No way, Jim! No scrubs!" they chanted.

The red-hatted kid, Jim, then turned back to face Link. "If only you were human," he added. "Then I could make you a member. Once, we let some kid who wasn't human join our gang, and boy, did we regret it!"

"It was bad; he tried to eat my face off," explained one of the kids behind Jim. "I saw his teeth!"

"_Where'd you say the hideout was?_" Link asked, about to leave and dismiss the conversation with the Bombers' Gang. They'd said their hideout lead to the observatory outside of town, hopefully without the guards noticing.

"Uh... East Clock Town?" Jim stammered. "It's through that doorway just over there." He pointed to another open doorway on a city wall, except it was on the opposite end from the fairy's fountain. "You can't miss it, but why are you asking us? We just told you... you need a code to get in, and you don't have it!"

"_Yeah, whatever,_" the Deku scrub said, turning away to walk towards the entrance that the kid had just pointed out.

"Hey!" he called out, as Link left. "Where are you going?" Link didn't say anything as he journeyed across the field once more, happy to finally leave the kids behind.

"Ah, man!" exclaimed one of the other kids to a friend beside him. "He probably could'a used his magic to tie your shoes."

Link, walking towards what he hoped would give him more answers or solutions, looked up at the moon. As he'd feared, it was closer than it ever had been before. Then he looked over at the sun; it had come closer to the horizon. Three days; the first one had passed, with no progress, and the second one seemed to be getting better with each passing hour.

* * *

"If you want to pass through here, you have to say the secret code!" Link, upon entering the doorway, had come across the elevated section of East Clock Town behind the hotel. To his right was the staircase leading into the main plaza. There were a few buildings up here as well, but none of them currently interested him at the moment.

Link spotted an alleyway with a yellow-hatted kid standing in front of it, leaning against the inside of ts opening. The kid was small and young, just like the rest. Link walked across the small square floor quickly, the kid quickly becoming alert and standing to block the entrance. Now confronting the kid, he saw that the alleyway floor descended on a rather steep slope into what looked like complete darkness. It frightened him, but Link hid the fear easily while in front of this kid.

"You need the secret code," the kid repeated, looking, eyebrows raised, at the Deku scrub. "I'm not letting you through until you give it to me." Link didn't say anything, but merely stood there, staring expressionlessly. "What... Why are you looking at me like that? Jim told me to stay here and not let anyone through!" Link still said or did nothing. "Hey! You're creeping me out; I'm not letting you in. If you try, I'm going to knock you out and get a guard to come and take you back to your parents... so you can... can... take a nap!" Still, Link held his composure and did not blink. "I'm going to tell you one last time; get out of my face, or I'll-"

A dense, light green bubble popped once more, this time on the chest of his target in mid-sentence. The kid's mouth, having been open and talking, was wide in shock when it exploded, covering his face and body completely in thick, green sludge. The excess was oozing off of him and collecting onto the floor around him, but the kid was still coated. He screamed, instantly bringing his hands to his face and trying to wipe it off, but there was too much of it, and his hands only spread it around. "_My eyes!_" He ran from his post, hands over his face, back through the doorway and into the field of North Clock Town.

Link smiled to himself, making sure no one had been near to see it. When he was sure, he turned around and walked in between the opening in the middle of the building on his left and the wall on his right. He was now venturing into the depths of this place, finally passed the dreaded walls that blocked everything from view... but underground. And it could not have been darker.

As he progressed further, making sure not to stumble or fall, the tight space became disconcerting. Even though he was small himself, the tunnel was hardly large enough for him. As it cut deeper into the wall and further underground, it grew even smaller. He reasoned that, were he his human self, his hat (which he wasn't wearing at the moment) would be scraping the roof. Link's pupils constricted as the light faded, until he was once again in the darkness he'd never been nostalgic of under the clock tower. The stone walls, roof, and floor were wet and covered in some sort of slime or plant growth.

Then the ground leveled out, and Link was surprised when he saw a torch blazing a few feet off, allowing him to examine the room clearer. He was standing on a level, stone platform that went for only a few feet, boxed in by walls on the left and right side, and a roof much farther above him than the tunnel's. He was definitely underground, but in what he thought to be a sewer system. Across the platform, it ended at another man-made stream, except this time much wider and slightly deeper, being the only way forward. On the other side was a ledge similar to the one Link was on. If Link could figure out a way to cross this mass labyrinth of water, he could follow _that _path on the other side, hopefully to this mysterious person who lived in an observatory. The water didn't look like it would be nearly as pleasant to drown in as the Laundry Pool; it was filth-ridden, green tinted and mixed with things better left unsaid.

He wondered how he would pull this off, understanding no one would be there to help him, should me make a mistake. Maybe if he went back, and got someone to help him? _No, _Link thought abruptly. _Anju has enough on her mind, and... why would anyone want to help a defenseless Deku scrub cross a dangerous pool of disease-ridden water? _He thought that, if he was going to accomplish this, he would have to do it alone. Further observation of the water, however, brought him hope. True, it was deep in the immediate portion of the water that he was standing before, but only several feet away it give way to shallower ground, shallow enough so that Link could just touch, even with his minimal height.

But still, the deep stretch still posed a challenge, until he remembered something. He remembered, when he'd fallen off of the bridge trying to capture the attention of the Stray Fairy, he'd felt at first as if he'd been a piece of driftwood, as if his wood-like, very light body would float on its surface. It wasn't until his snout began to fill with water that his porous body absorbed all of it and weighed him down. What if he could skip across the surface, just long enough to get to the shallow end? Eventually a loss of momentum and gravity would pull him into the water, but perhaps he could go long enough to make it.

Link took a deep breath, taking a few steps back from the edge of the water and preparing himself. Then, Link ran, his little legs, as always, carrying him step after step. When he reached the edge, he leapt, in as low of an arc as he could manage. The first moment his feet touched the surface of the water, his heart was in his throat, his mind empty and blank except for this sole task. He was overjoyed to find that his feet, for a split second, made contact with the water, only going in half an inch before he met resistance and was able to kick off back into the air. He was then exhilarated, excited, but it wasn't over yet.

The next jump went the same way as the first; his feet hardly dipped in, and he was able to kick off, now just past the half-way point to the shallow end. As he came down for his third contact with the dirty water, his mind was suspended in a moment of fear when his feet went further into the water. Link was still able to kick back out of it, but this time with much less distance, the weight of the new depth of water dragging him down. He was still able to make it somewhat farther, but now he wondered if his next few jumps would even be possible.

The fourth one was worse than the third; the first jerk of his legs didn't bring him out of the water, but the second did, and he was now only two more good jumps from the shallow end that would save his life. The fifth, he thought would be the worst of them all, but Link, mustering all the strength he could, kicked off immediately upon contact with the water, and he was able to perform a jump as good as the first and second. He knew that this would be the last one, and Link reached his arms out for the shallow end as soon as he began to descend.

But he came just short of it, and Link plunged into the water almost instantly. He tried not to panic; this time, the ledge he needed to grab onto was under the water with him, being the floor of the shallow end. Link's snout instantly began to fill with water, but he brought his arms up to grab the ledge of the shallow end before he sank too far past it. He pulled with all of his strength to bring his heavy head up before it absorbed too much water. His legs feebly kicked behind him to help bring him up the surface, and it all worked in the end.

When he finally broke free, only his head did. His body remained under the water; it was the same situation as before. He was outside of the water into the open air, but was still drowning due to the water his snout had collected. This time, however, he was unable to bend over and spit the water out; titling his head, even the slightest, would cause the water in his snout to go under the shallow pool. Link began to take step after step, the water at his neck, but the steps were very small steps, given his short legs. His head was like a heavy weight on top of his neck that he had to balance perfectly, and he couldn't breathe.

One step after the other was what it took; his head grew dizzier with each one. It placed as one of the most agonizing experiences ever; he felt dark, cool air on his face, but was unable to breathe it in. His lungs begged for it, taunted by the fact that it was abundant and waiting to be used. The ringing noises in his ears came when he was only a few feet from the ledge on the other side, and he feared the worst.

Link climbed up onto the edge just an inch from death, bending over and coughing his lungs free the second time that day, gulping in harsh bursts of air. He rolled over onto his back, successfully on the other side, successfully across. _I did it. _And he felt proud, once again; he'd proven to himself, that even cursed, he could still survive.

Soon after this thought crossed his mind, he felt the presence of another animal in the room. His heart stopped. Link quickly got to his feet and turned around, seeing that the platform continued left until it went to the right through a doorway, shallow water bordering the path the entire way. He ran quickly in that direction, not sure if he was quite ready to fight. But before he could make it, what looked like a giant skull flew down from the roof and stopped him; Link was going far too fast to stop and ran into it. The giant monster spun and threw him across the surface of the stone platform. He was on his back again, but this time there was no time to lie down and recuperate. Link jumped to his feet with the little strength he had left from his second drowning.

What had fallen from a small nook in the roof was a skulltula: a very large, man-sized spider. Its eight long legs came out from its black body, its back colored as if it were the face of a skull. The spider landed on its legs, looking at the Deku scrub with its red predator's eyes, taller than the child even on its stomach.

Link made a small whimpering sound, helpless. The two animals stared at each other, two orange eyes fearfully at the many red ones. The skulltula made the first move, charging at the seemingly defenseless Deku scrub, its eight legs pulling it forward quickly. It was surprised when the thick bubble flew from its prey's mouth, hurtling forward threatening to coat it in some sort of odorous, speed inhibiting liquid. The spider, with sickening speed, avoided it and continued its approach. Link took steps backwards from it, not daring to turn around, and fired a second bubble. This time, he took into account the spider's speed, and it splattered all over its white back side, but that side, posing as a skull, was also as thick as one. The bone on its back was unaffected by the globs of green, and continued onwards until it had reached the astonished Deku scrub.

Link brought up his arms to defend himself, but the superior, longer, and stronger spider-leg hit him in the gut in a single swoop, taking him up into the air so that his small body slammed into the wall. He fell, crumbling on the floor like a sack of twigs. Link struggled to get to his feet, but already, the spider was upon him. It held him to the ground easily with two arms, its disgusting head coming closer to his own face with large, thick black fangs bared. Link screamed and wailed, squirming his body in vain against the skulltula; it had caught a child that had strayed from home.

Link was forced to sit and watch as the fangs came closer to his neck, its many red eyes blinking excitedly and happily. Then, they touched the wooden texture he'd grown to know as his own, and the teeth pierced it, plunging into his neck as the stench of the spider became overwhelming. The tiny hairs on the spider's face touched his own, so close that he could hear it breathing heavily and happily over glee for its new meal.

Link was only able to scream for a few seconds; the venom acted almost instantaneously. The creature shot its paralyzing toxins into his new non-human body, feeble and weak, squirming its last squirms in the dark sewer that had no one around to help him. His limbs went limp and his mind began to fade away, his last coherent thought: _I hate being a Deku scrub!_


	5. The Observatory

_Chapter 5: The Observatory_

"Navi, what do you think is going to be left after Hyrule?"

"What do you mean... after Hyrule?"

The two were venturing across a vast, seemingly endless field. The verdant hills rolled on and on, connecting the forest, to the mountains, to the castle, to the lake, to the desert, and to the many villages scattered throughout the vast kingdom. It was beautiful, full of life, hope, and prosperity, as if only a dream to be shattered by the slightest disturbance.

Link's clunky, yet comfortable, brown boots made soft, pleasant sounds each time his feet came off the grass; it was calming, with the same ambiance of the land around him. His green tunic adorned him, the matching short, green funnel of a hat on his blonde head, and his sword and shield were clad on his back. His slingshot was tied securely to his belt, next to the sacks of Deku pellets and nuts. He was young, now ten years of age. He'd just left the forest and received his fairy, his next destination the alleged Kakariko Village.

They were approaching the river that eventually turned into a moat surrounding the castle; a stone bridge went across its surface, allowing one to go into the mountain territories of the north. The sky was clear and blue, the sun shining brightly. The moon was no where to be seen.

"I mean, Hyrule wasn't here forever, was it? What was here before Hyrule?" Link, the white fairy floating by his side, looked up at her with the curiosity of a child.

"Chaos; that's all there was. When the Gods created Hyrule, they were saving it from darkness." Navi answered without giving any real thought to the matter.

"So, when Hyrule is gone... that's all there will be? Chaos?" Link asked, a look of puzzlement as they transferred from the grass to the stone of the bridge, the water rushing underneath to surround the large castle wall behind them.

"Hyrule will never be gone!" Navi exclaimed suddenly, as if offended. "We were ordained by the gods to be here, Link. That's why we're helping keep peace, because they're using us as their tools to do that."

"I'm not a tool!" Link rebutted. "I chose to help Zelda, didn't I? The _gods_ never told me to collect the Spiritual Stones and keep them from evil."

"Link, you're obviously too young to understand," Navi finally concluded, Link's puzzlement not subsiding. "The gods do everything for Hyrule, for us; Hyrule will _always_ be here."

Link shrugged his shoulders; like Navi said, he was probably too young to understand.

"Link, get up!" Navi suddenly shouted, quite randomly, from Link's perspective.

"What?" Link asked, stopping his progress to face the fairy, blinking dazedly in the brilliant sun.

"Link, we have to go!"

"Navi, come on then. We're going to talk to the gorons about the next Spiritual Stone."

"Link, wake up! That stupid thing is going to eat you if we don't get you out of here!" Navi yelled urgently.

"What are you talking about? I'm awake!" Link yelled back, now angrily running over to the fairy. But... when he took his first step, he found himself descending into darkness, enveloped by it. The sky, the sun, the verdancy; it all disappeared. It was only as delicate as he had feared...

And then he felt his Deku scrub eyes open, but he could not see. Link was tightly wrapped in something, sweating profusely in the heat of whatever it was. He was also hanging upside down. He could not see, and his arms and legs were uncomfortably bundled together. Link tried to squirm, but he was hardly able to move. His head also swam dangerously at movement, threatening loss of consciousness again. The skulltula's venom was not completely gone from his system, but where was he?

"Link, are you awake?" This voice came from outside of whatever suffocating prison of darkness he was in. He recognized it instantly.

"_Avee!_" Link exclaimed, his voice no longer as it clear as it was earlier. He must have been hanging there for a very long time, asleep and paralyzed as his throat dried to handicap his speech again.

"What... avee?" questioned the voice from outside, and he slowly began to realize that Navi had only been the fairy in his dream. The one talking to him now was a different one. "That gloomy hotel-chick told me you figured out how to talk!"

"_Attle!_" Link exclaimed happily. "_Elp! Ider it I eck an I to ill me!_"

"Deku boy, there's no time to babble like an idiot right now," the fairy said seriously. He tried to squirm again, but found himself just as constrained.

"_Ant oove!_"

"You're in a freakin' cocoon; of course you can't move!" Link gasped at the realization. He was wrapped in a ball of webbing, tightly suspending him from the ceiling, dangling over another section of the sewer system. It was a shallow portion, shallower than the previous one. The long, stone hallway went in the same direction on either end. The small white fairy floated directly in front of the webbed cocoon that the Deku scrub was trapped within; several others, some large and others smaller, surrounded his own, each dangling from the roof in a similar fashion. Tatl had yet to see whatever creature was responsible for this, but she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

"_Elp, Attle!_" Link exclaimed again, shaking back and forth, hardly stirring the long string that kept him attached to the ceiling. The webbing surrounding him was so thick that it hardly gave room for him to breathe; he probably would have killed himself trying to do so, had he been conscious the entire time.

"It'll be okay, Link. It'll be okay," Tatl reassured him, though not entirely sure it would be, floating back and forth thoughtfully. "I flew all the way back here to apologize to you; I don't plan on letting you die. It's... it's... my fault that you're in there; I'm gonna get you out!"

"_Then oo it!_" Link exclaimed, not caring for the apology at the moment.

"All right, fine, fine. Jeez, I was trying to say I was sorry. I was trying to-"

"_ELP!_" Link exclaimed.

"Whatever," Tatl finally said to herself. "Okay, so... I'm not sure I can untie it... I... how do you want me to do this?"

"_I own no!_"

"Well... um... um... I got it!"

Link waited in the darkness for something to happen, but when nothing did, he opened his mouth to comment on the matter. Before he could, something slammed into him, and the entire cocoon rocked in one direction. Link was too shocked by it to wail, and when the cocoon reached the height of its arc, it began to travel down in the opposite direction, swinging back and forth on its pendulum. When it lost its momentum, it was slammed into again, the force pushing him repeatedly as high as possible. "Hold on, Link!" Tatl exclaimed.

The fairy continuously pushed the cocoon as high as she could, trying to put as much stress as possible on the string holding him up. It went on for only a minute, and then Link suddenly, instead of being swung sickeningly side to side, was pulled straight towards the water, the string snapping. Link wailed as he fell, trying to move from within the cocoon, but still unable to do so. Then the ball of webbing hit the stone bottom, splashing a little bit of water into the air.

Tatl quickly flew down from the roof, and she noticed that he was now successfully escaping from the confines of the cocoon. The strings had been wet and weakened, but it was still a struggle. Eventually one hand broke free, and Link sighed with relief, his heavy breathing calming now that fresh air rushed in. He used this escaped hand to get the rest off of him, kicking the residue from his legs and getting to his feet. Link brushed himself off and stepped out of the webbing, splashing in the water as he did so.

"Link," Tatl began, floating in place just behind him. Link had been facing away from her as he picked the strings off. He stopped for a second, the anger returning as the adrenaline died away. Instead of feeling grateful, he felt even angrier at the fact that she had saved him. She'd ditched him because she had thought he was useless, and seconds into her return she'd saved him again.

The Deku scrub did not turn around, but continued to pick the long strands of webbing off. His vision spun, however, when he looked back down at his arm, his body still not completely rid of the poison. "I'm sorry," she said again, sadly. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't find anything while I was gone. The hotel lady told me that you found the stray fairy... and... she told me your name."

Link stopped attending to his arm when he heard this. He hadn't noticed that Tatl had been addressing him properly this entire time, even though he'd never told her his name. Anju was the only one who he'd been capable of telling.

"Hello?" Tatl inquired. "Link, I'm trying here! I don't really know how to apologize all that well. But, I need you, Deku head. I may have to bail you out every other second, and I do all of the speaking for you... but I can't fight the Skull Kid by myself. I've always had Tael, so I've really never been alone before, and... I don't even really know what I'm saying here!

"Link, please just turn around and say something! I was only gone for a day. I didn't save your life to have an excuse to rejoin you; I did it because I didn't want to lose you. Please." Link turned around, though not looking directly at the fairy, and Tatl was suddenly hopeful that she would be forgiven.

The skulltula dropped from the roof, his massive body swinging into the Deku scrub and sending him hurtling into the wall several feet away. He crumpled against the wall just as it had last time, collapsing into the thin layer of water. Though this time, he had half his strength. The skulltula let go of the web and crawled speedily through the water towards the helpless animal. "_Link!_" Tatl exclaimed, her wings up in shock, the spider paying her no attention.

Link found it difficult to rise to his feet, turning around and sprinting down the hallway as fast as his little legs would carry him. He didn't pause to look behind to see if Tatl or the skulltula were following, his splashing loud in his ears. He had no idea how long it would be before his legs simply gave out.

"_Run faster! He's almost got you!_" Tatl's advice was useless to Link, however; he was already running as fast as his body could stand to. There was no speeding up. He was proven wrong when he thought he felt something exhale on the back of his neck, the tiny, multiple splashes that resulted from each leg of the spider dangerously close.

A new burst of adrenaline sent him a few steps further. He was coming to the turn in the hallway, the sewer water going through a grate at the end; the hallway that branched off to the right had a floor a few inches higher, so no water covered its surface. Link realized that this new passage was the one that he'd first been kidnapped on. The doorway that he'd been trying to reach, when the Skulltula had attacked him, was right there. However, making the turn without losing speed was the current problem, and there wasn't much time left to think about it.

Link, approaching the turn, saw a long, thin shadow on the floor getting longer. The spider leg was raising for attack.

Link barrel-rolled into the turn, just as the arm came crashing into the water in defeat. Link managed to land on his feet after rolling twice, but his momentum was too great. When he tried to turn and stop, his feet slipped out form under him, and Link rolled painfully past the doorway. He tried to quickly get to his feet again, but the spider had already made the turn and was charging directly for him, Tatl just behind the spider flying franticly to Link.

Link quickly summoned all the energy he could to begin producing a green bubble while he got to his feet, and he released just before the spider reached him. This time, he aimed for its black, unprotected head.

The spider screeched in pain and confusion, not able to stop quick enough, its many legs giving out as it rolled towards Link. It stopped just before rolling into him, the Deku scrub running around the spider lying down on its stomach. Its front legs picked at the goo covering its face that prevented it from seeing.

He finally made it through the doorway, Tatl by his side. The room had no stream of filthy water in it; it was only a large, square stone room that had a few pipes up against the left corner running from the roof to the floor. Otherwise, it was empty, except for a crude ladder at the far end. It led up to yet another passageway, except this time the ledge was high up on the wall, only accessible via the weak, wooden ladder.

"Did you just vomit on that spider's face?!" Tatl exclaimed, as the two continued traveling across the new room. Link didn't bother wasting breath to try and answer her, but continued running. Their journey was cut short, however, when something came down from the darkness of the roof. Link stopped, and looked at it with eyes wide, Tatl staring just as frightfully. Another skulltula was crawling down to them, crawling along the ladder and just as large as the last one. It leveled out on the floor, all eight legs eager for its meal.

Tatl turned around quickly when she heard something behind them, Link also glancing over his shoulder. The original skulltula was turning into the room, the green goop still covering its face; though its eyes had been successfully uncovered. "... _Link..._" Tatl said nervously, as the two skulltulas on either side of the room surrounded their prey. Link gulped dryly, not sure how to continue. "You could... throw up on all of them?"

The skulltula from earlier, the one currently enraged at the Deku scrub, was the first to charge. Link spun around quickly and tried to jump out of the way. One of its legs pierced Link's boot, however, and when it pulled back the arm to reel its prey in, Link was dragged by his foot. The spider did not hesitate in raising another arm, this time hovering to strike his body. Link saw the anger and detest in its eyes, and he knew that it was striking to kill.

Link quickly sat up and shoved his boot off, but its thick leg tore straight through Link's upper arm before he could stand. The Deku scrub screamed in agony, and the Skulltula lifted him into the air like a fisherman who had made its catch, the hook deep within his left arm. "_Stop it!_" Tatl yelled, flying into the skulltula's face repeatedly.

The spider roared in protest, still holding Link high in the air over everything. Link kicked his legs in response to the pain that shot through him. The second skulltula now stood in front of the first one, looking enviously at the prey it had caught. The one with the Deku scrub was also currently distracted by its kicking, screaming prey, the fairy attacking its face, and the green, thick, substance beginning to slide down over its eyes again.

Slyly, the second one slipped one of its legs into Link's pant leg, ripping him from the arm he was staked to quietly and swiftly. It was painful beyond expression, Link losing the ability to wail as the venom began to take over his body again. This second skulltula smiled to itself as it flung Link down directly behind itself, away from the other one. It then turned its back to the one Tatl was attacking, holding down the squirming Deku scrub with two legs as it prepared to bite.

Tatl, looking over from her attacks, quickly stopped when she saw what was happening, allowing the skulltula with the green mush to wipe some of it out of its eyes. It screeched when it found its prey stolen, and then quickly forgot the fairy again, striking the other spider before it could bite into Link. It turned around angrily just before it made the bite, and the Skulltulas began to battle, stumbling away from the prey that was the subject of conflict.

Tatl quickly flew down to the injured Link, who was laying feebly on the floor, clutching the bleeding wound that went completely through his arm, shivering silently. "_Come on, Link!_" Tatl exclaimed, nudging him lightly on the head. "_We've gotta get outta' here!_" Link only moaned though, before he weakly lifted his head to look at the ladder a few feet away from him desperately. He struggled getting to his feet, as the two skulltulas continued to battle fiercely on the other side of the room. "There you go," Tatl said softly. "It's not that far away, Link. Come on!"

Link took one shaky step after the next, leaving droplets of blood behind in a small trail, all eventually leading to the pool of blood he'd left behind. "Come on, you can do it. Someone can help us once we get out of the sewers; those skulltulas won't be done anytime so-"

Tatl was interrupted by a sickening stabbing sound, the sound of something piercing flesh. Tatl turned around to see that the battle between the skulltulas _had_ just ended. The one that was bent on murdering Link violently had won, its leg having stabbed the underside of its brethren. It looked viciously in triumph at the now dying skulltula, the green goop now almost all gone from its face. The loser squirmed and twitched once or twice, and then it was still, its legs curling up and growing rigid. The victor pulled its leg out of the dead spider, shaking with rage and insanity.

Link was turning his head to look, but Tatl stopped him. "Don't worry about that; just go!" They'd reached the ladder, and Link took her advice, stretching out for the wooden rungs. Tatl helped him, nudging his arm from underneath to complete the task. It hurt the hole in his arm to grasp the pole, but the other uninjured right arm did it much easier. Then Link pulled himself up the first rungs, as the skulltula behind them turned away from its dead competitor and looked at its prey escaping. It screeched again, traveling across the floor to stop him. "Link... I know you're kind of bleeding, dying, and weak and all but... _Go faster!_"

Link tried, but he wasn't sure how much strength he had left to muster. One stride of the arm after the next pulled him closer to the ledge, but it was a very long ladder, given the circumstances. It creaked with his light weight at each foot he put on the next rung, one un-booted foot after the booted one.

"_Link!_" Tatl screamed one more futile warning, as he reached out for the ledge, having almost made it to the top. The spider's leg, not being able to reach the Deku scrub anymore, stretched as far up the ladder as it could, and then brought its leg down, tearing through the rungs below. The ladder fell apart instantly, and Link's hand just missed the edge of his one chance for escape.

Link fell amongst the remains of the ladder, but was too weak to let out a scream. The spider put its arm up to catch the falling Deku scrub and slammed him into the ground.

All the air was squeezed out of him, feeling as if his insides had been crushed. Link kicked himself out from under the skulltula's leg and began crawling madly away, desperate, but hopeless. The skulltula screeched merrily at his pathetic escape attempt, and that was all the time Link had hoped for. As he crawled away, seconds from losing his consciousness once again, he gathered what he thought to be the last little bit of life left to blow one last bubble. This time, he did not release it immediately, as he had all of the other times, but spent the very small amount of time the spider spent screeching to secretly blow it up as large as he could. He crawled while facing away the entire time, shaking at the effort.

It only took four strides of its front two legs until the skulltula was over the Deku scrub. The skulltula screeched with excitement once more, and then reared up over Link, four legs and an underside up into the air over the defenseless child. It would smash him with its body and then rub the remains all over the floor. But it never got that chance.

Link turned around as the skulltula came down with the largest, thickest, greenest bubble yet, and it popped all over the soft underside it had intended to use as a ram. The impact and sharpness of the popping pierced a large hole into the spider's underside, also filling it with the green goop.

The skulltula instantly brought back its legs to the ground, the front two examining the wound as it backed away from the Deku scrub. It had miscalculated, now mortally wounded, also slowly dying as the green substance entered its body through the wound. It stumbled a few times in confusion, as if curious as to what exactly had happened.

And then it rolled over onto its back in the middle of the floor, its legs curling up above like the last skulltula, both of them now dead.

Link was completely exhausted, unable to celebrate his victory; he was still sitting up, breathing in and out harshly. "You did it!" Tatl exclaimed happily. "Link, you killed the skulltula!" She flew over to the dead spiders and danced up and down around their bodies in celebration.

A weak attempt to move from Link failed, and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, falling onto his back. "Link?" Tatl inquired. She flew by his side as she saw his eyes closing. "Uh... uh... I'm... going to get help right now, Link! Hold on." She flew up to the hallway above the broken ladder, and then Link was unable to stay awake any longer.

* * *

Link stirred underneath the blanket drawn over him, turning his head on the pillow and moaning. His left arm throbbed badly, and Link took it out from under the covers to see that it was crudely bandaged, dry blood on both ends. Link put it back under the sheet and looked around, his Deku head finally able to move without swimming.

He was in a very large, round room, the floor wooden and the walls stone. An old door was on the right wall, and a staircase that spiraled up to a second story was at the other end. It was impossible to see what was on the second floor from this point, which seemed to be more of a basement than an actual first floor. He was lying on top of a box, a pillow under his head and a blanket on top of him. There were other boxes stacked around the corner he was in, a cage hanging near the stack of boxes with a small bird inside of it.

The bird fluttered in the cage, moving restlessly on its perch. Link laid his head back on the pillow, noticing that a glass of water had been placed next to him. He eagerly took this and drained it quickly, feeling the moisture return to his throat. Soon after, a bright ball of light appeared on a box next to him. The fairy fluttered her wings, flying over to levitate in the air beside the Deku scrub, whose eyes were finally open.

"How do you feel?" she asked. She didn't sound she'd been asleep herself.

"_Great,_" Link answered, though Tatl seemed shocked at his response.

"So it's true. Deku head finally _can_ talk. And fight. You were pretty great back there, getting tossed around like a rag doll who can blow bubbles."

"... _Was dat a compliment?_" Though he could talk, he knew his high-pitched voice was still a distraction, and she probably had to attentively listen to completely understand him.

"Yes, it was; you definitely showed me how it's done back there."

"_I've... done bedder,_" Link stammered, not quite sure exactly what to say. Neither of them made direct eye contact. "_I'll have to do better when we stop the moon from falling._"

"Uh... yeah... about that...," Tatl began, after a moment's consideration.

"_What?_" Link asked, suddenly worried that his optimism had been misplaced.

"The Skull Kid... he's... well.. the astronomer can tell you."

"_We're at the observatory?_" exclaimed Link excitedly, slipping off of the top of the crate and throwing his blanket off.

"Yes," Tatl said, as if wishing the conversation had gone in a different direction. "I went and got him to carry you back here; he's a very nice old man. Without his help, you probably would have been food for whatever else lives down in those sewers."

"_Is he upstairs?_"

"Yeah." Link then walked quickly across the floor to the staircase, going around onto the main floor, leaving Tatl behind. The fairy sighed deeply before following him up the stairs herself. Link, rounding the final curve, looked in awe at the observatory as he stepped over the last few stairs.

It was a room just as large as the one below it in width, but the roof was much higher, in a domed shape to fit the giant telescope within. The room consisted of a large platform in the center with a man standing on top of it. Massive telescope knobs and an eye piece were hanging just above the floor, along with most of the machinery of the device; the lens that he thought would be at the end, however, was sticking outside of a large hole in the roof that fit perfectly around the telescope's body.

The eye piece came down so that a person of normal height could easily peer into it. A door was right where the staircase ended, surrounded by two pillars that had glowing star-shaped ornaments on top of them. Another column stood behind the man who was currently peering into the small eyepiece. On top of it laid what looked like a glowing blue stone in the shape of a tear, surrounded by a glass casing.

The man looked down from the eye piece when he heard the Deku scrub. He was very old, as Tatl had said, wearing long blue robes that covered his feet; he was ghostly pale, with mystical blue eyes on his wrinkled face, long white hair flowing down past his shoulders, hardly hidden by his blue skullcap. He was very tall, though hunched over greatly, a thick white mustache just under his nose.

"Well, well," the old man began, his voice as aged as his face. The Deku scrub walked up to the platform, Tatl following him behind, their problems hopefully pushed aside for the time being. "The strange-looking child has joined me today."

"_Thank you for saving me._" He wondered how this old man had managed to do that all on his own.

"Oh, it was nothing, really," he replied, his voice trembling and faint. "I've gotten the Bombers gang out of trouble down there before; are you a new friend of theirs? Your manners seem much better than those of your mischievous friend from the other day." He laughed lightly, and Link merely smiled politely, waiting for him to finish. "That ill-mannered troublemaker from the other day said he'd break my instruments..."

"_One of the Bombers gang?_"

"Now that I think about it, I'm not sure he was," the old man said.

"He's talking about the Skull Kid, Link," Tatl explained, the fairy floating to converse with the old man herself. "No, Shikashi, the Skull Kid isn't one of the Bombers gang."

"He's too wicked to be," the astronomer, Shikashi, commented. "He said he'd steal my moon's tear... there was no stopping him." He trailed off, as if thinking about the Skull Kid's visit, and then suddenly continued, "Even now! Just watch him! He's probably causing trouble around the clock tower!"

"_Ull id's... in... Clock Town?_" Link looked over to Tatl, confused.

"That's... kind of what I was afraid to tell you, Link."

"_How didn't we see him? Isn't that a good thing?_"

"Well..."

"Why don't you look into the telescope and see yourself?" Shikashi suggested, gesturing his hand towards the eye piece. Link tentatively walked towards it, the old man reaching up and turning one of the knobs so that the eyepiece was lowered. Link peered into it, its rim cold around his eye socket.

Link, for the first time, saw the outside of Clock Town. It was as he thought it would look; all that could be seen of it was a giant wall, completely enclosing all of the city in a circle. The only thing visible above the oddly-colored, tall stone walls was the clock tower. The dark stone was easily visible without turning the knob to look closer. Its massive clock-face turned rhythmically, as always. He also noted that it was nighttime, and the tall black ball on the top was rotating in a slow circle, a bright light piercing the sky. It was as Link had guessed upon first seeing it; the clock tower doubled as some sort of light house, its massive beam of light stretching far.

A field surrounded the walled city, messy, unkempt grass polluting it; Link thought it much less magnificent than the great Hyrule Field that had surrounded the castle. White mountains could be seen in the distance, far away behind the walled city and the grass field.

He moved the eyepiece, easily turning the telescope's body when did so to get out from behind the giant tree he was facing. Link was curious as to how Tatl could have seen the Skull Kid in Clock Town, when the only visible piece of it was the tower.

Then, when Link moved it to the left to bring it closer to the tower, he thought he saw something moving on top of it. Link quickly centered the scope on the small dot of movement on the giant revolving ball, and he slowly turned the knob as instructed. He felt his mouth go dry when he realized that it was, in fact, the Skull Kid.

His orange and yellow outfit was still the same: frayed and for that of a child, his large witch-like hat on his head. But that wasn't what Link paid attention to. It was still wearing the mask. The heart-shaped one, with the spikes surrounding its edge, and the _eyes_... the orange, glowing eyes that stood out from the rest of the purple, green, and red adorning the mask. There he was; all of this time, Link had been venturing throughout Clock Town looking for someone who'd been in the very center, watching... laughing the entire time.

The Skull Kid was actually standing, not floating, staring up at something, his expression hidden beneath the mask. He did not break his gaze, and Link turned the scope to see what it was. He froze in fear when the scope touched a corner of it, and he instantly knew what it was... but he continued turning the telescope, helpless to the alluring gaze that he knew he would fine.

There it was: the large, gray chunk of rock that was staring down at the city. The great orange eyes were that of the mask, just one hundred times its size, and it had grown to a magnificent, horrendous size. He felt his legs trembling slightly at its awesome appearance, commanding the fear and attention of everyone underneath. He felt helpless beneath its all-seeing gaze, and Link's anger towards the Skull Kid suddenly turned to fear.

The Skull Kid was no longer playing games; he meant to slam the moon directly into Clock Town and destroy it, and all of the lands surrounding it. The Skull Kid had to be defeated, somehow reached at the top of the tower... but _how_?

_At midnight on the day of the carnival, the clock tower... well, it opens up. The huge clock face points to the sky, and the staircase comes down and you can go up to the top! Pretty neat, huh?_

Suddenly, he understood what he had to do. If what the masked salesman had said was true, then they had six hours after the tower opened to stop this kid's plan. He wondered now if the mask salesman had known the moon would fall in seventy-two hours; the coincidence was just too great.

Then... something caught his eye. The giant orange orb that was the moon's left eye suddenly grew a small ball of fire at its pupil. Link curiously zoomed in; the ball of fire grew larger and larger, and Link realized something had fallen and was now hurtling towards the ground. He watched curiously, following it and zooming out, until suddenly, he realized that it was hurtling _towards_ them. It was going too fast for Link to do anything; he could only gasp, as the small, flaming object headed straight for the lens of the telescope.

However, it fell just short. Link quickly aimed down to look at it, and saw that it had slammed into the fenced stone path surrounding the observatory: a glowing blue object in a black, scorched crater. He turned the telescope to look at the top of the clock tower again, and saw the Skull Kid. The imp had followed the path of the falling object and seen the telescope moving. He was now staring into it... staring at _him_... threateningly.

The Deku scrub and the Skull Kid stared at one another miles apart, and then Link backed away from the eyepiece on the telescope.

"What was that?" Tatl exclaimed, looking shocked at Link and the astronomer. "Did you hear that noise?"

"_I'm not sure,_" Link confessed. "_It fell from the moon, whatever it was..._"

"A Moon's Tear!" Shikashi theorized. "A very rare and valuable gem; did the object have a blue aura?" Link nodded. "And... did you find that troublemaker?" The Deku scrub nodded grimly. "I wonder how he got on top of the clock tower? The only way up there is through the clock door, and that opens only on the eve of the carnival."

"_So... we weelly can go up there... ?_" he asked, as squeaky as ever.

"Yes," Tatl reassured him, "at midnight, six hours before the sunrise of the carnival. That's exactly what I was thinking, Link."

"_So... I guess we should leave then?_" Link inquired, turning to face the old man.

"Take the Moon's Tear with you before you go," the astronomer said. "That door over there will take you outside if it landed within the gate; its glow will keep away anything that might decide to attack you on your way back through the sewers. The leader of the Bombers gang, Jim, carries a shard of one with him; that's the only way they ever get through alive." Link nodded, hopping off of the platform and opening the door leading outside.

Even though Clock Town was open to the sky, this felt like the first time he had actually been outdoors in a while, fully able to take in nature's splendor. The dense forest at the start of his journey had blotted out the sun, his struggles through the underground tunnels had been in complete darkness, Clock Town itself was completely walled in, and the sewers had been boxed in as well. Now... he was under the sky, and could see the grass; the only thing stopping him from running through it was the extremely tall, black gate that completely encircled the observatory.

Link looked immediately to his left and saw the glowing blue stone, just a few feet off. He wondered towards the blackened crater it rested in, looking at its glow mysteriously, not doubting the intimidation it caused other animals that might see it. He bent over, stretching out a hand, afraid to touch it. Tatl floated by his side, observant.

It was surprisingly cool when his fingers came down on its surface, and he watched its magnificent glow pulsate with wide eyes. He then cupped his hands underneath, bringing them back instantly when he accidentally touched the blackened, indented pavement; it was still quite hot. Link then carefully removed it without touching the sides, picking it up with both hands and staring at it more. Tatl did the same beside him; it was beautiful, and in the crude shape of a tear.

Link then forced himself to look away and turned to the clear, dark nighttime sky, the beam of light coming from Clock Town passing overhead every so often. There was a forest starting directly behind the observatory and going onwards to the left, forming a tree line. The only true obstruction to this field was the moon overhead, glaring down at the clock tower. Link turned to go back into the blue dome that was the observatory, the large telescope poking out of its roof.

He closed the door behind him, pausing at the staircase as he put the Moon's Tear under his arm. He winced at the pain it caused his left one, and then switched. Link noticed that the glowing blue orb behind the astronomer had also been a Moon's Tear, though not entirely identical. "_Thank you for everywing,_" Link said, Shikashi looking up from the eyepiece to see them off.

"It's always a pleasure to meet new people, and help them when I can. I'm glad I could help; good luck with your endeavors."

Link and Tatl then descended the staircase that spiraled down back into the basement. The Deku scrub and fairy opened the door into the darkness of the underground, stone tunnels. "Here," Tatl began, "let me light the way; these go on for a little bit before they lead back into the sewers. All the turns and intersections can get confusing." Link nodded, and Tatl flew ahead, the light provided by her orb bouncing back and forth off the walls. And so they walked through the darkness of the tunnels, two companions together again.

They walked in silence at first, Tatl flying ahead. She always hesitated before making a decision as to which way to go through the puzzling underground maze. "... _Are you chure you know where you're going?_"

"Yeah, it just takes me a minute to remember," Tatl explained, though only half-heartedly paying attention as he strained herself to recall the way they'd taken. When she arbitrarily chose the left hallway, Link sighed deeply, looking down at the radiant blue stone under his arm as he walked. The left arm was still tightly bandaged and stiff by his side.

"_Tatl,_" Link began, the fairy still flying far ahead of him.

"Yes?"

"_I wouldn't-duh made it without you. Thanks for coming back_."

Tatl stopped flying in response, still facing the darkness of the tunnel. "I... didn't expect you to forgive me, Link," she finally said, turning. "Thank _you_ for not throwing your glass of water at me as soon as you saw me; I deserved it, after what I said to you back in the hotel room. I thought... I thought that I could do it on my own; I just wanted my brother back, and I didn't realize how indebted I was to you, after what all happened when the Skull Kid robbed you.

"But now I know. I want to make sure you get your body, ocarina, and horse back just as badly. It's my fault you're in this mess, and I'm not stopping until we get out of it together."

"_Thanks Tatl,_" Link said. "_But you don't have to explain_." Zelda had almost said the same exact thing to him. _I know why you have to go; it's just... I don't want you to have to leave._ Zelda's voice had been sad, as he'd thrown himself over Epona and left Hyrule behind. "_I know you had to leave, but now we'll do it together; we can save Tael and stop the moon from falling._"

"How?" Tatl asked. "We can wait until the clock tower doors open up... but then what? Are we going to go to the top with a prepared speech and try to convince him to give us the mask back? He's beyond reason, and there's no way you and me can take him! He's kind of hurtling a giant ball of rock bigger than Clock Town directly into us. That's more than me or you can do! Yeah, I can fly into his face, but what's to say he won't curse me too? I mean, I guess you can throw up on him, but he's not a Skulltula."

"_That wasn't throw up,_" Link explained. "_The Great Fairy gave me it as a magic ab-_"

"It doesn't matter; we need a plan!"

"_I don't think it's even possible for us to have a plan. What could we do? Maybe... maybe it's not brute force that will stop him. Maybe... I don't know... I just have a feeling about this. We have to go to the top when those doors open up._"

"What... you want to sing him a lullaby and put him to sleep?" asked Tatl. Link scoffed, following the fairy that had once again continued traveling through the hallways.

"_No, but... Tatl, can you just trust me? Confronting the Skull Kid will be enough; I'm tired of hiding_. _There's not enough time for anything else. It's, what?... the second night we've spent here. In not too long at all the mask salesman will be gone and Clock Town will be a wasteland; Tatl, if we don't go to the top of the tower and stop him, then no one else will._"

The fairy considered as she took one last turn, happening upon a large, square room. The new ladder Shikashi had used lead down to the floor. This was the place where both skulltulas had died, but their bodies were no where to be seen. "If you say so, Link," she finally agreed. "I'm just not sure you realize what you're getting yourself into."

"_I know what I'm getting myself into it if we DON'T do anything_." Link then turned around and made his way down the astronomer's ladder, trying his best to use his left arm as little as possible while still holding the Moon's Tear in the other. Tatl looked doubtful at the headstrong, eager Deku scrub as she followed him.

* * *

Link ran eagerly out of the tall, narrow alleyway into the upper part of East Clock Town, Tatl coming out behind him. It was still dark, though the night looked like it was almost over, a slight purple tint beginning at the skyline. There was no one else in the upper section, and the Deku scrub went quickly down the staircase into the main area of East Clock Town. When he ran past the hotel, however, Tatl stopped following him, confused.

"Link... where are we going?"

"_To deliver this!_" Link gestured to Tatl the Moon's Tear, and then continued towards the staircase into South Clock Town.

"Wh- to who?" The fairy followed despite his unresponsiveness, still confused.

Link walked quickly past the now very tall structure being built by the carpenters. He passed around the new wooden tower and through the shadow of the larger stone one. He stopped in front of the empty shop stall, a large, yellow Deku Flower hidden behind it. "_Hey!_" Link exclaimed loudly.

The adult Deku scrub jumped out from the depths of the flower, his lower half remaining inside. "What?" the Deku scrub demanded, his sleepy eyes opening to see who had come, Tatl now up behind Link.

He seemed to recognize Link, but before he could say anything regarding the matter, the little Deku scrub held out the glowing blue stone in his right hand. Its light radiated hypnotically and beautifully. The adult squeaked happily, "Ah! That stone!" Tatl merely observed, as Link continued to look directly at the adult. He was trembling with happiness. "You must hand it over to me! In exchange... I'll give you my spot here... Deku flower included, as promised! Yes?"

Link nodded, "_As promised_." He then made the transaction, the cool, radiant stone leaving his fingertips for a final time. The adult Deku scrub's enthusiasm was boundless, holding the stone out in front of himself in awe. "You really helped me out; now I have this perfect souvenir for my wife! She hasn't set eyes on a jewel or strange, sparkling stone like this in a very long time."

"_Glad I could help._"

"I'm not the only one who just got a good deal, though! The Title Deed for this spot should be in high demand among Deku scrubs, but you already know that. If you don't need it anymore, you could always sell it."

"_I'll keep that in mind._"

"And wow... you really figured out how to talk, didn't you? You fixed that... poisonous blue fern problem?"

"_Uh... sure... Let's go with that._"

"Thanks though; have a great..." the adult Deku scrub looked nervously up at the moon, not sure what he should say, "... carnival!" He then disappeared into the depths of the Deku flower with the Moon's Tear and popped back out carrying a bunch of bags. He reached into one, pulled out a folded green piece of paper, and handed it to Link, "Here you go." Link took it lightly, and then the helicopter-like leaves on the adult's head began to spin around. He left as he had come: over the city wall, the many bags a hinderance making it difficult travel. And then it was Link and Tatl, standing at the now unoccupied flower. Link unfolded the new title curiously, examining it.

"That was... interesting," Tatl commented. "You two know each other?"

"_Sort of. He asked me to get him a Moon's Tear. This should make it a little easier to get to the clock tower doors once they open._"

"Well, I'm glad we got it; can we please go back to the hotel now?" Tatl asked. "I really... really... need some sleep. It's almost the last day before the carnival, and I don't want to..."

_Dee-dong!_

The bells echoed into the air, scaring off a small group of birds that had been perched on the city wall. Tatl jumped, turning to look at Link, but Link wasn't looking at her. He was looking around the town, as if just now noticing something.

No one was there; only the carpenters hammered away busily on the wooden tower. All of the other stalls were closed down, their vendors gone, the late night shoppers from the night before vanished.

_Dee-dong!_

The town bells echoed through the empty streets of Clock Town, and no one stirred, because only the guards standing at the town gates and the carpenters remained.

_Dee-dong!_

The moon hung ominously over it all, giant and unbelievably close. Link had to crane his neck backwards in order to encompass the whole thing. Its eyes were still staring threateningly downward, teeth bared, as if preparing to plow into everything alive below.

_Dee-dong!_

The final seconds of the second day faded away, forty-eight hours gone. Link and Tatl had their plan now; they would wait until midnight, six hours before the Carnival of Time. And then they would walk the steps and face the coming apocalypse.

Light spilled over the city walls as the sunrise broke. It was the last one Clock Town would ever see, should their plan fail. Link balled his fist together tightly, determined for it not to turn out that way. He stared threateningly at the moon, knowing that the Skull Kid was probably laughing maniacally just underneath it, at the top of the clock tower.

_Dee-dong!_

Dawn of the Final Day. Twenty-four hours remain.


	6. The Final Day

_Chapter 6: The Final Day_

"Skull Kid... you're... _really_ going to kill people this time; it's not a game anymore."

"I know." His voice was cold; all tones of playfulness were now gone.

"But... think about it. The moon's not just going to destroy Clock Town; it'll destroy everything!" The Skull Kid turned slowly to face the purple fairy, having been floating, staring down at the goings of the town from his position atop the clock tower. He tilted his head to the side as if curious, not understanding what he'd just said; it was much more frightening than it was childlike. The mask made it that way; it was a harsh, cold, killer's mask, one of darkness, one that showed no mercy. The orange, still eyes were enough to drive one insane. "Tatl... my sister... do your remember her, your friend? You're going to kill her too!"

"I don't care about your sister," he said dryly, not moving the slightest as he stared at Tael. The clear blue skies and bright sun did not match the aura surrounding the moon, just above them, larger than it had ever been before, but it didn't matter. The darkness of the mask was indifferent to all. The few people left running to and fro were ants to them; yet they still felt the mask as if it were a prickling of the hairs on the back of their necks, or a feeling of impending dread. "I don't care about anyone down there; I want them all to die. They're dumb things, down there."

"_What happened to you?_" Tael, the purple fairy, Tatl's brother, suddenly shouted out, moving closer with a sense of bravado.

"Stop!" the Skull Kid suddenly warned, exiting his position of relaxation. "Do you remember what I said would happen if you tried to leave or question me?"

Tael stopped short, going back to the position he'd been in, but his small fit of bravery had not yet ended. "You thought you were having fun and playing games... now you, _want_ to kill them?"

"Yes."

"... Why?"

"Why not?" And then he laughed, chuckling loudly and openly in front of the fairy, who could only sit there and watch, as everything below them took in its last remaining precious hours of daylight.

* * *

"It's time to wake up, Link," Tatl began.

The Deku scrub had the covers pulled up over his head, having been deep in restful, well-needed sleep; the hours of unconsciousness had not at all rested him. He moaned slightly, for a moment feeling as if he would pull the covers off of his face and see Navi floating just beside him, where he would be able to jump out of bed, run down the hall, and see what it was Zelda had planned for the day...

But it soon hit him that that was not his current location. He was in Clock Town, a town, quite frankly, he'd never even heard mentioned before, with a fairy who wasn't necessarily his own, and a giant rock floating above their heads that was ever slowly creeping towards them, threatening to kill everything there. He most definitely would have preferred being back in Hyrule. "Link, it's almost noon. I know you've only had six hours of sleep... but don't you think we should be doing something? I feel kind of useless just sitting here and waiting for the clock tower to open... don't you?"

"_No_," Link murmured from underneath the covers, still. "_I feel like I'm doing something; I don't want to pass out from exhaustion while we're going up the staircase._"

Tatl scoffed, "Well... six hours is plenty! How much could a little thing like you need, anyways?" Link then threw the covers off of his face and looked at the fairy angrily, still a cursed Deku scrub, himself. "Uh... we're still on joking, slap-each-other-on-the-shoulder-playfully terms... right?"

Link didn't answer, but slipped out of bed instead, turning to look out the small windows; it did appear to be somewhere around noon. "_What exactly is it that we should do?_"

"Um... I don't know," Tatl stammered, looking away and flying around in a slow circle, her equivalent of walking in place.

"_Have they ordered an evacuation yet?_" Link asked thoughtfully, turning from the window and going over to the drawers.

"I don't think so, but I doubt they will if they haven't yet. I think that anyone who looks up into the sky with any common sense is going to realize that it might be best to take a little vacation."

"_It'd make me feel a lot better if I knew for a fact no one was left in town when... well, you know._" He said that as he began to slip on his boots, the one that had been pierced by the Skulltula still having its large hole; he'd recovered it on the way back through the sewers.

"We can go talk to the mayor if you'd like; his office should be open by now."

"_If that'll satisfy your urge to go do something._" He stopped when he had opened the wrong drawer after closing the ones his boots had been in; inside of it was his large, green hat. Link picked it up and held it in his hands pensively. It didn't feel right to not have it on when he confronted the Skull Kid, so Link slipped it on, opened the drawer he'd meant to and grabbed some money.

* * *

The Deku scrub closed the door behind him, stepping into the lobby of the building Tatl had directed him too; it had been the long building on the elevated part of East Clock Town. It was a very nice, grand lobby, being, in effect, a large hallway. The hallway ended at a front desk with a young lady standing behind, two doors on either side of the back wall; along the hallway there were places to sit and decorative plants, a small replica of the clock tower's face telling the time just above the receptionist's head.

Link walked up to the desk, the lady looking down at the little Deku scrub accompanied by a fairy with a smile on her face. "Aw... look at you. Are you looking for your parents?"

"_No_," Link said dryly, though still high-pitched, unable to help it. He practically had to look straight up to see her, being far shorter than the counter. "_We need to see the mayor._"

"Well, he's a pretty busy man," the receptionist said, as if talking to a toddler. "He has to make some pretty grown-up choices today."

"Listen, lady," Tatl said, and the receptionist turned, the smile still present on her face. "We don't have time for your little, oo-ing and aw-ing baby crap; if you think he's that cute, you can flirt with him when the moon _isn't_ about to slam into your pretty little face and everyone else you know." The lady behind the desk was response-less, her smile having faded. "Which door can we find the mayor in?" When she raised her arm and pointed at the door to her right, Tatl flew off to that door without saying anything else, Link following her.

"_It's pretty funny, you know... when I'M not the one you're mad at_."

"I can't stand people like her, that have to treat everything smaller than her like a joke!" Tatl said furiously, obviously still in the hearing range of the stunned receptionist. "Trust me, I know how you feel, feeling like no one will take you seriously because you're too small; I deal with that crap all the time. 'Oh look, a pretty little fairy; let's go play magic princess with her.' Nope, wrong, sorry; I don't play magic princess!" Tatl stopped her rant when she looked down and saw that Link was smiling up at her, not saying anything. "What are you smiling at?"

"_Nothing,_" he remarked, turning to open the door. "_Let's just go see the mayor before you lose your head._" They stepped into the chaos of the mayor's office, Tatl restraining herself from saying anything else further.

The room was average-sized and square, large bookshelves against the back wall on either side of the large window directly in the center. A desk seemed to be the main feature of the room, big in size and on top of a red rug, papers and trinkets on its surface. Behind the desk was a massive chair in which a man sat, one with long purple hair slicked back, a long, thin purple mustache, and upper class clothing: the mayor. Two guards stood on the right side of the desk, while two of the carpenters, among them the leader, stood on the left side. All five people in the room seemed to be having a heated debate, none of them having noticed the Deku scrub and fairy entering the room.

"...Most of the townsfolk already have taken shelter without waiting for the Mayor's orders," said the guard closest to the table, looking urgent, pleading with the mayor in his tall, strong armor. "The only ones left are public servants and committee members... Mr. Mayor and Carnival Committee Members, please order those who remain to evacuate!" Link and Tatl merely stood there at the doorway, not sure whether to interrupt the debate, but thought it better not to.

"Ah... hmm... well...," the mayor stammered nervously, scratching his head in thought, looking directly at the Deku scrub and fairy, but not noticing them.

The carpenters interrupted him before he could continue, however. The leader, the one who had yelled at Link on his first day there, was the one to speak, "You cowards! Do you actually believe the moon will fall? The confused townsfolk simply caused a panic by believing this ridiculous, groundless theory. The soldiers couldn't prevent the panic, but outside the town walls is where the danger is!" Link restrained himself from boldly protesting against this, having came here for the same purpose the guard had. "You want answers? The answer is that the carnival should not be canceled! ... Isn't that right, Mr. Mayor?"

"Umm... I think that... Well..." The mayor was just as indecisive as the first time, obviously not displaying any leadership skills at the moment.

"Are you serious, Mutoh?" exclaimed the guard who had spoken earlier, Link realizing that this guard had on different armor, as if a higher rank than the others and the one behind him. "It seems that giant chunk of rock above us hasn't caught your eye! At this time every year, we are overrun by tourists! So why is the town empty?" The leader of the carpenters, Mutoh, merely stood there, staring at the guard threateningly, the mayor just as confused as ever. "Clearly, it's your job to ensure the carnival's operation, but that's if people are here for it! Don't drag the merchants and soldiers into this!"

"That's a good... um... but he..."

"If the soldiers wish to run, then run, Viscen!" exclaimed Mutoh, interrupting the mayor yet again. "We councilmen will stick to tradition. This carnival will be a success! I've never heard of a defense unit abandoning its town!" The main guard, Viscen, took offense to this, and almost spoke out against it, before Mutoh continued regardless. "Madame Aroma would surely say the same thing, wouldn't she, Mayor Dotour?"

"... Let's not bring my wife into this," Dotour pleaded, sighing as he put his head on the desk in surrender.

"Hey!" Mutoh suddenly exclaimed, this time talking neither to the mayor or the guard. Link jumped in shock at suddenly being noticed, and turned to face the carpenter, scared slightly, given their last encounter. "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone, kid?"

"_I... I... came to speak to the mayor,_" Link stammered nervously.

"Oh yeah?" Mutoh scoffed, laughing to himself as the other carpenter, two guards, and mayor turned to look at him too. "And what do _you_ think we should do?"

"_Uh...,_" Link stammered, gulping, suddenly finding his throat rather dry. "_Evac-woo-ate_."

"Oh, what a great idea!" Mutoh exclaimed sarcastically. "Did you hear that mayor? He thinks we should evac-woo-ate!"

"Please... Mutoh," began the mayor. "He's just a child."

"Yet he speaks more sense than you," pointed out Viscen.

"More _sense_ them me? Maybe you should have put the worthless little Deku scrub in charge of the carnival! Wait... what? That's right, you put me in charge, because I'm not an animal."

"_Listen, you rotten, good for nothing, sack of dog barf!_" Tatl suddenly exclaimed, much louder than he'd heard the fairy ever talk before, her wings erect in a position that expressed extreme anger.

Mutoh turned to face the fairy, a smile spreading across his face. "Are you talking to me, little twinkle ball? Nayru, the mayor's office has turned into a barn!"

Tatl quickly left Link's side, making it to where she was an inch from Mutoh's face. "You're the animal, sacrificing all of the guards so that you can have your stupid tradition! To Din with tradition; there's a ball of rock bigger than your over-sized head coming straight towards that stack of twigs you have built in South Clock Town!" Tatl calmed down slightly, satisfied that she'd temporarily left him speechless, and then she turned to the mayor. "You know what, don't order the evacuation. I'd pay front row seats to see this guy's grin leave his face when the moon comes down all over his bloated ego."

Viscen, Dotour, Mutoh, Link, and the other two men in the room were all looking at Tatl, stunned at the string of insults that had just flowed from her mouth. "Come on, Link," Tatl said, flying back to his side. "Let's go." The Deku scrub did not hesitate in leaving the awkward moment of silence, going back into the lobby quickly. The lady that was behind the desk earlier was no longer there.

"_Tatl_," Link began, turning to look at the fairy who was still calming down. "_That was amazing._"

She looked down at the Deku scrub, as if having to think about what he'd said for a moment, but then smiled within her ball of light happily. "You haven't seen anything yet!"

* * *

Link and Tatl stood in the middle of the main plaza of East Clock Town, as if lost, confused as to whether or not either of them should be there. They were the only ones; it was a wasteland. Typically, there would be a few food stalls open, but now there was nothing. Link clutched his stomach hungrily, as the ground began to vibrate once again: a small earthquake. It only lasted a few seconds, but the closeness of the moon was beginning to have a physical effect on the town, though it had yet to do any damage. Still, it was unnerving to be rattled up and down like that, even if only for a moment; it proved that not even the ground was as sturdy and constant as one would like to believe. This caused the hunger in his stomach to turn to fear, as he once again realized that he would have to be under the moon the entire time, rather than fleeing.

A family ran out of one of the buildings on the square, attempting to juggle all of their possessions that they could carry, frantically running for the town gate, most likely in response to the third earthquake of the day. However, Link felt as if it was someone taunting him with the fact that he could easily leave just as well; surely the guard would allow him to run for his life, even if he were 'defenseless'. _But you can't leave, can you?_

Link turned around to look at the time on the giant clock tower, the moon appearing to rest on top of it like a golf ball on its tee. It was 1:34. In less than seventeen hours, Clock Town would be rubble; the Deku scrub, however, did not think he could last that long without something to eat. He turned to face the fairy, who was occupied in her own thoughts. "_Tatl... isn't there anywhere we can get food?_"

"Um...," Tatl began, exiting her train of thought. "Maybe we can pay Anju to take some food from the Stock Pot's kitchen; I'm sure... you know, since it's the end of the world... she'll make an exception for her customers, especially me and you." Link had revealed to Tatl everything that had happened to him while she'd been gone, but Tatl had been the more hesitant of the two to divulge exactly what she had been doing.

The Deku scrub and the fairy walked into the lobby of the hotel to see that Anju was behind the front desk, looking sadly down as she was folding up papers and packing them away, putting them in drawers, or merely dropping them in a waste bin. There was a sense of urgency about her, and they thought they knew why. "_Are you leaving... Anju?_" Link inquired, slightly disappointed as he walked up to the front desk.

Anju looked down from her work over the counter to see the small Deku scrub, smiling slightly as she turned back to her work. "Shouldn't you be leaving, too?" Link didn't answer, not sure how to. "Oh... Are you going to stay here? Did you... find who's doing this to the moon?" Link, at first skeptical of the fact that she may be mocking him, found no mockery in her voice... at all. He nodded his head. "Well, if you're sure. We're going to a ranch a few miles outside of town for shelter, with friends and family... If you wanted to come, you'd be welcome to."

Link, also skeptical as to how good of a shelter a ranch only 'a few miles outside of town' would be, spoke this time, "_Thank you, Anju. We actually wanted to know if we could use your hotel, after you leave, until it's time._"

"Oh," Anju began, not bothering to inquire on what 'until it's time' really meant. "I guess all the other food stalls will be closed by now... I'll leave you the keys to the hotel and some food in the kitchen, if you want."

"That'd be great!" Tatl exclaimed. There was a moment of silence afterwards, but Anju opened a drawer behind her desk without anything further needing to be said, and she pulled out a ring of three or four keys, holding them low over the counter so Link could reach them.

"Please don't forget," she said, as he reached up for the keys. "If you ever feel like you've changed your mind, don't hesitate to take shelter with us; I don't want you to die... but if you honestly think you stop this from happening..." she stopped to finish her statement, while Link's small hands closed around the keys and brought them down to his side. "... Good luck."

* * *

_Dee-dong!_

All was silent, except for the town bell that rang out, its solemn note no longer stifled by the every day noises that would usually flow from the busy townsfolk. Now there was no one, nothing, except those who were willing to face the morning of the carnival together. Though the different reasons for such an action varied, there were very few left within the town walls. The mail man remained, along with Mutoh, the leader of the carpenters, the mayor in his office, his wife and the bartender in the milk bar, the owner of the Curiosity shop, the man with the small bank, and one guard at each gate.

_Dee-dong!_

A Deku scrub sat on the roof of the hotel, having reached the point through the building with the new keys he had obtained. His small, Deku scrub back leaned against the large fence, looking over the town wall that separated East from South Clock Town. The clock tower towered over this, not all that far off, he reasoned, it's large wooden wheel ever turning; the sun blazed behind it, a fiery orange is it began to disappear below the horizon.

_Dee-dong!_ A fairy floated by his side, both of them intently staring at the horizon, taking its powerful golden rays.

"I'm scared, Link." Tatl didn't turn to face him, as if not daring to look away from the sun. "I don't want this to be the last time I ever get to see the sun."

The moon was baffling; it was now visibly bigger than Clock Town, having been steadily being pulled closer to eventually completely cover it. It's menacing gaze did not waver to Tatl's plea, not concerned of the blood it would spill. Another earth quake shook the ground, the hotel rumbling underneath them as the moon once again rattled its prey, as if messing with it before it would deliver the kill.

_Dee-dong!_

"_Me neither_," Link said squeakily once the small earth quake had ended.

"Should we go to the ranch with Anju? I know the way."

A pause.

_Dee-dong!_

"_The ranch won't save us, Tatl. No where's safe; we have to try to stop it, or no one else will._"

"But what if we can't Link? What if we don't stop him, and we... have to die?"

"... _Then we'd die together, knowing we did everything we could, rather than dying in fear and hiding._"

Tatl was left speechless, though neither still turning away from the sun. She floated closer to Link, at first hesitant, but she overcame this, and then was resting on the Deku scrub's shoulder, the first time she had ever done so. Link turned away from the sun in surprise for a moment, but Tatl did not acknowledge it.

_Dee-dong!_

They both watched the sunset together, the final rays slowly narrowing, until the light caved in together, disappearing into a fine, thin beam, that left the town in twilight. The sun was gone, and the sky only turned darker from then on.

And the orange eyes did not waver.

* * *

Link lay on the bed staring at the roof, as he had been on the day of the second morning, except this time with Tatl flying back and forth around the room nervously. "It's almost time," she said, obviously high-strung and not nearly as relaxed as Link appeared. "It's... Shouldn't we do something? Link, are you listening to me? There are only a few minutes left."

"_Do you want to go then?_"

Tatl acted as if she had not expected this suggestion and turned to him slowly. "Yes. I'm tired of being inside; all of these earth quakes are unnerving when you can't see how close the thing is that's causing them."

"_Then let's go._"

Link slipped off of the bed, his feet hitting the floor, as he had done multiple times during his stay at the Stock Pot Inn. He wondered if he would ever be able to do it again; if the moon fell, then for obvious reasons, but what would happen if he did stop it from falling? _One thing at a time_, Link thought to himself. He made sure the long green hat was on snuggly, tightened his boots to his feet then crossed the floor to exit the hotel room, not bothering to grab any money.

The fairy followed him as Link's footsteps echoed through the empty building; it was nerve wrenchingly silent. Nothing, absolutely nothing could be heard, except for the ticking of the clock in the lobby and their own steps. Anju was not in the lobby to greet them when they passed around the corner... and this was when Link realized that it was really happening. This was the moment that it all came down to; him and Tatl, having the courage to walk up the steps of the clock tower and face the Skull Kid, with no one there to support them or help them this time. They would have to do it on their own, and they were going on pure nerve.

When they ventured out into the main plaza, they crossed it uneventfully. As with everywhere else, it was abandoned. The torches lit the plaza, only because the carpenter had been insistent on doing so. They passed under the crackling light, not having to even glance up to see the moon out of their peripheral, and they were walking down the staircase into South Clock Town, where the clock tower stood tall.

Link was now standing directly in front of it, the tall, now completely, wooden structure, a monument to the Carnival Time, several feet behind him. In front of it stood Mutoh, arms across his chest, still surrounded by an aura of arrogance.

The Deku scrub's neck was craned back, attempting to take in the full height of the tower and the moon at the same time. He'd been standing there a couple of minutes, Tatl floating by his side doing just the same. The carpenter merely stood behind them, curiously watching them.

"... So you decided to stay after all?"

Link turned around, not taking any steps closer, but facing him, nonetheless, Tatl doing the same. "We were never going to leave," Tatl answered. "We're going up to the top to stop it."

Mutoh laughed to himself. "It's not going to fall."

"_Are you serious?_" Tatl exclaimed. Though her wings expressed outrage, she did not fly any closer to him, but remained beside Link. "The truth is literally about to come crashing down on top of your head... and you still won't accept it?"

"It's not going to fall!" Mutoh exclaimed angrily this time. "Cowards! All of you! If you're gonna fall, then FALL all ready!"

Tatl almost spoke again, but Link turned her away. "_Just ignore him-_"

_Ding!_

The loud, sharp pitch cut through what Link was saying, and then, suddenly there were loud explosions, popping brightly and brilliantly around the clock tower: fire works. Greens, reds, and other dazzling colors. They exploded jubilantly... but the ecstatic cheers of the people were absent, gone. The fireworks went off, but there was no cause for celebration; only death.

The large black ball on the top of the clock tower, the one that rotated with the large beam of light cutting through the night, slowly began to rise into the air, going higher on a very thick wooden beam that was extending from the roof of the tower. It grew taller, and as Link looked up in awe at what was happening, the fireworks in the background, he thought, for a second, that it would touch the moon, lest it go any higher. It didn't, however, and the large wooden wheels on the side rose with the ball of the clock tower, into the sky.

Then, when it grew to high, it began to totter, as if it would snap off and crash to the ground, a small earth quake starting at the same time. The earth quake ended, dangerously teetering the extended clock tower, and then it fell over, coming down and swinging around so that the large wooden clock face was going to face the sky. It stopped when it was exactly parallel, the ball that had once been the searchlight now parallel to the ground, sticking out of the back of the tower, the massive wheel of time now the roof.

The platform above the set of doors they'd come through now lead to a door way that had been uncovered when the clock face had moved. This door slid down into the ground after all of this occurred, the fireworks still going off, the audience still gone. Another door was behind this one, but slightly higher, sliding down so that it stopped just above where the last one hand, revealing yet another door after that one. The precession of doors continued onward, until each, slightly higher than the last, made a staircase that cut through the tower upward steeply, leading to the new roof of the clock tower once suspended in the enclosed hallways of darkness for a moment, the roof open to the sky, directly underneath the moon.

Then the fireworks stopped, the last fizzles of light disappearing before they reached the ground, and Link and Tatl were now standing in front of the open clock tower... on the night of the final day, six hours before death would come to all.

They could only stand there for a moment, each standing an awe at what had just happened, not sure if they had ever really been serious about confronting the Skull Kid underneath the full power of the moon. Another earth quake shook the ground almost immediately after, this time longer and more severe. It still ended quickly, but it was progressively worsening.

"... Link?" Tatl inquired weakly at the Deku scrub. "Are you ready?" Link nodded his head. "I'm glad I have you for this, Deku Head; I'd still be trapped underneath Clock Town if it wasn't for you. No matter what happens... I want to thank you, for everything, and apologize for everything... because I know leaving you wasn't the only thing I did to you."

"_It's okay Tatl; you came back... that's all that matters_."

Tatl, Link thought, would be smiling, could he see her face. "Well then come on, Deku brain! We've got a world to save."

As Link and Tatl ran to the golden Deku flower behind the abandoned stall, the guard standing at the South Clock Town was looking up fearfully, his knees wobbling miserably as he stared up at the awesome presence of the moon. Mutoh also seemed to be reconsidering the situation slightly. "It's going to be... the best carnival we've had yet...," he mumbled to himself, eyes now shining with fear.

Link's feet naturally slipped into the thin opening, his head completely submerged in its depths. It was the same amazing feeling, that he was biologically meant to do this, and then he burst from its surface, carrying a flower in each hand, the petals twirling through the air as he flew towards the platform with which the staircase was.

The petals to the flowers closed just in time, and Link only fell half an inch until he was on the platform's surface. He now stood in front of the staircase leading to the top of the tower, the doorway with which he'd first entered this place just underneath him. The Deku scrub and the fairy each looked at each other before turning to continue up the staircase.

There they walked, side by side, to confront the dark magic that plagued them, climbing to the top of the tower in the center of Clock Tower, now done ticking away the final minutes of freedom. The carnival had arrived.

* * *

Link stepped onto the wooden surface of the clock's face. It was massive, a large stage for the final act, and with a stronger decor, now that he could admire it from so close. It was very intricately designed in odd, yet beautiful, fashions, the lines and colors connecting and flourishing with life. The rims of the clock face were taller than the Deku scrub and made a circular wall, so he was unable to climb or see over them, the edges ticked with multiple numbers that represented different times of the day. The sky was red, yet still dark, ominously veiling everything under its glow.

The rock was directly above Link, possibly not even five hundred feet above his head. And there was the Skull Kid... floating several feet in the air just above the surface of the clock face, not looking at them, but in the opposite direction, deep in thought as he peered down from the top of his nest.

Then, as Tatl settled just beside Link, the Skull Kid turned around, his face still hidden behind the mask that pierced through his very soul. He turned, having fully known they were behind him when he'd been facing the other direction... something in his left hand.

_The Ocarina of Time_, Link thought, and sure enough, the blue instrument that had been stolen from him earlier was now being tossed and flipped repeatedly back into the Skull Kid's hand, mocking him and blatantly making it known that he still had it. The orange eyes of the purple mask bore down on them threatening, the moon above his head plenty of intimidation, had that not been enough. He remained floating in leisure, the end of the world above him, as the Deku scrub began to tremble slightly in their presence.

The Skull Kid did not say anything, but merely stared down at them, waiting for them to say something first, wondering what they could possibly be planning on doing, having ventured up here all heroic-like. He wanted them to speak first, wanted them to make fools of themselves before he even had to open his mouth, for what _could_ they possibly have to say or do? They would die; he had complete control over the situation, and he would crush them.

"Sis!" The purple fairy flew to reveal himself from behind the Skull Kid, having just noticed his sister.

"Tael!" Tatl exclaimed from beside Link. "We've been looking for you two." The Skull Kid still stared down at the two newcomers, not lightening up in response to Tatl's mildly friendly statement. The white fairy then began to speak to the imp, as if talking to someone she knew, hoping beyond hope that it could be solved as simply as that, that he had not been too far corrupted to no longer listen to reason... that it wasn't really the end of the world. He could realize what he was doing, and listen to his old friend; everything could go back to the way it had been. "Hey, Skull Kid, what if you gave that mask you're wearing back now?" The Skull Kid didn't respond, and the fairy's small burst of hope began to die away as quickly as it had appeared. "Hey... c'mon... are you... listening?"

Tael suddenly flew from beside the Skull Kid, going out of the imp's reach and hastily trying to blurt out as much as he could, taking everyone by complete surprise, "Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon. Hurry... the four who are there... Bring them here!" Tael meant to say more, but the Skull Kid quickly flew out to him and slammed him into submission with the back of his hand, causing Tael to gasp in pain as he was put back behind the Skull Kid forcefully.

"_**Don't speak out of line! Stupid fairy!**_" His voice was deep, powerful, commanding, in a tone that Link had yet to hear, filling the air threateningly. The town bell tolled below, back on the ground, in celebration of the carnival that had finally arrived.

"No!" Tatl yelled in anger, flying up ahead and above Link, the Skull Kid turning from Tael to look at her. "What are you doing to my brother? Skull Kid, do you still think you're our friend after everything you've done?"

The Skull Kid went back to a position of luxury, floating in place, tossing the ocarina up and down in his hand once more. "... Well, whatever," he said carelessly. "Even if they were to come now, they wouldn't be able to handle me... Just look above you."

"You can't do this!" Tatl pleaded. "You're going to kill and destroy everything; you don't know what you're doing. You can't... we _won't_ let you do this!"

The Skull Kid laughed lightly at this. "If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!" And then he stopped tossing the ocarina, gripping it firmly in his hand as he began to shake, as if concentrating deeply on something, taking up every ounce of his being. Then he threw his arms into the arm and screamed, a horrible, animal-like screech that pierced the sky as waves of light flew from the Skull Kid's arms. They cascaded up above into the sky, rippling over the surface of the already close moon. The magic power continued to flow from his arms to the moon... and... it began to shake... the moon, the ground, the clock tower, everything, as the moon began to plummet down to the ground faster than it ever had before. The large face was rapidly approaching; they had less than a few minutes before they were all flattened. The Skull Kid continued to shake as he summoned the moon to come closer to him.

"_Tael!_" Tatl suddenly exclaimed, when she realized her brother was also caught in the waves of magic, it preventing him from rejoining his sister. "_Link, do something! Look what's happening; it's coming down right now!_" She began to panic, Tatl flying back and forth in front of Link, glancing up at what was happening just above them every other second.

The ground didn't stop shaking; the tower was trembling terribly, and Tatl and Link began to wonder if the noise they heard coming from far below was the groaning of the clock tower's foundations. The Skull Kid continued to scream, the magic continued to cause the moon to go ten times faster, and the Deku scrub and fairy were standing helpless underneath it all. "_Link, you have to stop him!_"

"_What am I supposed to do?_" Link exclaimed, looking over at Tatl with fear in his orange eyes, his legs shaking tremendously as the chaos continued.

_Dee-dong!_

"You-you... use your bubble thing!" Tatl exclaimed quickly over the noises, as the apocalypse drove onward. Link quickly turned to the Skull Kid and began to summon all of the power he could, trying his best to stop his shaking; though no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to. The green bubble began to form at his snout, shaking back and forth madly as it did so given Link's trembling and the earth quakes. He released it nonetheless, and Tatl and Link watched as their last hope for survival soared through the air and popped on the imp still shooting out light.

He instantly stopped screaming, green goop exploding all over him, the light coming from him stopping. The Skull Kid was pushed through the air several feet, and something fell from his hands and spun towards the clock's face. The blue ocarina fell a few feet away from Link, hardly making a noise when it made contact with the wooden surface. The imp began to move around sluggishly from within his green prison, still floating in the air as he did so. Link sprinted towards the ocarina as Tatl's wings jumped happily.

"You did it! You-" However, it didn't take her long to realize the moon was still falling rapidly towards the clock tower; while no longer getting faster, it maintained the speed the Skull Kid had had it at before his dark magic had been halted. She once again stared at it in fear, and turned to see that Link was almost across the clock face from her. "Link? What are you doing?" Tatl flew over towards his side, as Link's arms reached down.

His fingers closed over the smooth, blue surface of his long lost ocarina, and he held it back up in front of him. It was still beautiful; the Skull Kid hadn't damaged it during his time possessing it. He held it admiringly, smiling, somehow having forgotten the moon threatening to kill him for just a moment; it was back. His last connection to Hyrule had finally returned to him. "Snap out of it! What are you doing; lost in memories? Get yourself together; I was wrong, the moon's still falling! Getting that old ocarina back isn't going to help us!"

Link looked up from it and at Tatl, as if exiting a trance, and she watched with interest as he began to bring the ocarina up to his mouth. However, when he tried to seal his lips around the mouthpiece... he realized he could not; he was still a cursed Deku scrub, and he wasn't sure how to play with a large, open snout...

"Link... please! Don't give up on me!"

"Sis!" Tael shouted happily, having recovered from the beams of light he'd been imprisoned in. Tatl turned around to see her brother just beside the Skull Kid, who was struggling with goo all over him still, the moon still descending on its own accord. The purple fairy flew over to his sister, as the Skull Kid suddenly screamed in rage.

The same light as before exploded from him, this time removing all of the green material as it left him, instantly causing it to sizzle and fade away. Then he let the light die away and looked down, pure anger etched into his shaking body as he looked down, scanning quickly to see what had caused this to happen. The first thing he saw was Tael trying to finally reunite with his sister.

It was quick and sudden; the Skull Kid threw out his arm as if he was going to throw a ball, and neither Link or Tatl were able to see what had traveled through the air. Tael did, however, give a quick, sharp shriek when whatever it was had reached him, and the purple ball of light instantly went dim, and the large wings and tiny, dull body fell to the wooden surface lightly and without impact, just short of reaching his sister.

"_TAEL!_" screeched Tatl horribly. The white fairy flew quickly down to the body of her brother, it being lifeless and motionless, her brother now more important than anything else that was happening. "Tael... please... Tael, do something; wake up... say something! Tael... _Tael_..." The small, gray fairy, no larger than a finger nail, void of any light, could not respond. Tatl turned from the corpse and looked directly at the Skull Kid. "_You killed my brother! You monster... you killed him!_"

The Skull Kid didn't say anything, but instead began to laugh manically, uncontrollably, insanely as he leaned back in the air and pointed his finger at what had happened, unable to stifle it for any conversation. He was completely and utterly mad with power.

Link looked down from what he'd just witnessed to his ocarina sadly, still in his hands, Tatl's cries of pain and the Skull Kid's laugh still ringing out. He couldn't play it... After all he'd gone through to finally get it back... He couldn't play it...

The shaking suddenly took a turn for the worst; the clock tower was beginning to slightly sway back and forth, the moon now only feet away from ending everything. Link stumbled slightly on his feet, trying to catch his balance as Tatl suddenly stopped talking in shock at what had just happened. The Skull Kid only laughed harder, flying away from underneath the moon as it began to deliver its final blow.

"_Link, we have to get out of here now; there's nothing left we can do! We need more time!_" the fairy exclaimed to him over all of the noises, leaving her brother's side to float beside Link, still living and breathing. "Stop looking at that ocarina and let's go!"

"_You can leave, Tatl_," Link said in his Deku scrub voice, looking up from the ocarina and turning to her, allowing the arm that was holding it to rest back down at this side. "_You can leave without me and never get hurt._"

"... Leave you... ? ... Again? Link, my brother's dead, and so will everyone else I know if that moon falls; if you have to die, I'm dying with you!" A smile flickered across Link's face amidst the chaos, and Tatl returned her version of one.

That was when the gravity of the moon became too great on the poor structure standing tall beneath it. It began to slowly lean in one direction, and was not able to re-balance itself, the great stone clock tower toppling over. Link stumbled backwards in the direction the clock tower was falling, ocarina still in hand, before the face of the clock left from underneath his feet. The clock tower had been pushed so that it would topple into the South Clock Town square, though only half of the tower was falling; the top half. The bottom half remained rooted to the ground securely, the top half raining down on top of it.

Link was in free fall, his hands wildly reaching for something that wasn't there as he fell back, descending amongst the black stones falling all around him. Tatl remained in place, having been floating in the air, all of this happening in only seconds. "Link!" she exclaimed, as her companion fell away from her.

The Deku scrub lost his stomach as he sickeningly spun through the air, wailing as he fell, his screams unable to be heard over the earth quakes and crumbling of the clock tower, the face of the moon staring directly at him. The large wooden clock face lying flat on top of the tower slid off of the stones that had once been supporting it, the wooden disc cutting dangerously through the air, falling heavily towards Link. Tatl quickly flew into the chaos, flying as rapidly as possible to the side of the falling Link, passing the wooden wheel as she did so.

Link's fall ended abruptly, however; since the black stones around him had blocked his view of what was below him, it came by surprise when the platform at the staircase that had once lead to the top of the tower stopped his fall. His body crippled on its surface, pain shooting through his limbs and back at the tremendous fall he'd been forced to undergo. This was in no way the end of his troubles, though; debris was still raining down from the top of the tower all around him, and one piece of stone could easily nail him in the head and kill him. However, the biggest concern was currently the large wooden wheel that had slid off the top; it, for the moment, being slowed down in its fall since it was falling flat through the air.

"_Link!_" Tatl exclaimed again, flying down to be by his side. The Deku scrub struggled to lift his head and look up at the fairy, his vision blurred from the pain that was searing through his body. He moaned, seeing the bright ball of light with wings only barely; he felt the ocarina still in his hand and squeezed it tightly. What Tatl was saying was a blur, gradually coming from his state of his near-unconsciousness. "It's coming right towards you! Link, we've gotta get you out of here! Get up Deku Head, hurry, it's comi-"

Link realized just in time what was happening and attempted to roll out of the way of the giant face of the clock tower that was coming straight down towards them. There was a sickening crack as it drove directly through the platform and sent Link high into the air, arcing so that he plummeted straight down back onto the ground among more rubble, the ocarina flying from his hand at the force of the impact, Link now in the plaza of South Clock Town, which was shaking just as badly as everything else. He looked up at the wooden structure, lying on his back injured, to see that Mutoh and the guard were no longer there.

He screamed in pain, these observations not nearly as pressing as the fall that he had just suffered, the second one, at that, on top of black stone debris that had came from the tower. Debris still rained down from the top, as the moon seemed to be in the spot where the top of the clock tower has just been moments ago, a red haze beginning to surround it as it approached ground zero.

Link looked down further to see Tatl flying to him from the platform that was now also sliding off of the clock tower to crash down into the ground, wheel driven halfway through it. It was slanting so that it would land just in front of Link, and shatter in his face. He looked frightfully at it, already bleeding from numerous wounds from unknown sources throughout his descent from the top of the tower.

Tatl hastily approached his side, directly in front of the falling platform with the wheel inside of it, Link staring directly at her. _"Link! It's happening; it's happening! What are we going to do? We have to get away; you have to get up!_" she screeched nervously, slowing down to speak to Link as the debris raced towards her, the Deku scrub realizing with sickening horror that, given that everything was one giant roar of noise at the moment, she did not realize the bomb of debris that was just behind her.

"_Tatl! Look out, you-!_" Tatl turned around, but that was all she was able to do in the given time slot. Link watched in horror as the high pressure strain of the wooden wheel, being wedged into the platform and hitting the ground at the same time, caused it to violently scatter into millions of pieces, and they showed no mercy. Tatl was instantly bombarded with bullet-like shards, now no longer in Link's view as he curled into a ball to protect his face. He could feel fresh cuts ripping open on his arms, less they were completely punctured, bruises forming as bones broke.

Several moments passed, Link still huddled in his ball as the roaring continued... but then the noise of falling debris ceased. He slowly and carefully left his ball, in great pain as he did so, surrounded entirely by an ocean of wood and stone. Link hardly had to glance around for Tatl when he saw the small white ball lying down on top of a piece of wood, in the middle of the pile. The Deku scrub crawled over to where she was, wood creaking underneath him as he got on top of the pile, and then lied himself down gently by the fairy.

"_Tatl?_" Link squeaked, looking sadly down on her. She was still within her ball of light... but she was lying down and completely silent. He held out a hand and scooped it underneath her, so that she rested in the palm of his hand, and Link brought her up to him, having to then turn to the side and cough up a few spells of blood. He shuddered after this, but then managed to force himself to look back at the fairy, who still had yet to do anything. "_Tatl?_" he repeated, the fairy's light flickering, threatening to give out for good. "_Don't... die._"

"It doesn't really hurt..." she whispered to him softly. "... Dying..."

Link's lips then began to quiver as he looked around them and realized that that was what was happening. The sky was fire; the moon was now surrounded in a huge ball of it, now moments away from bringing down the city walls. The ground shook madly, the sky ablaze, the fairy and Deku scrub both sweating profusely as they suffered from their wounds. Noise was a deafening roar; this was the end of the world. The fire would scorch them alive before it destroyed Clock Town, and then the explosion that resulted when it hit the ground would wipe out all of the lands surrounding this one... even the mountains he'd seen in the distance, he wagered.

And there they were, underneath it all, Link shaking madly as he tried to fight back any tears or whimpers, weak beyond belief. Tatl was in his hand, dying just as he was, some unseen injury from within the ball of light. "_Thank you for not leaving me,_" Link struggled to say down into his hand.

"No... prob... lem, Deku head."

Her light had almost left her, and Link whimpered at the near lifeless body in his hand, just as puny as Tael's had been. He brought the fairy close to his chest as tears left his eyes, running down his cheek as he shuddered, as much from dying as he was from sadness. "_I'm sorry I couldn't save you._" Tatl made some kind of incomprehensible noise in response, too weak to speak.

Link turned his green-hatted head away from the fire and Tatl for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut in pain, but when he opened his eyes and looked around, taking in everything for one last time as he held the fairy close, something caught his eye: the blue ocarina, lying in the debris, not but a few feet away from him. Link thought about it for a moment, and then struggled to crawl across the pile towards it on his side, one stride of the arm after the other until he final reached it, managing to keep Tatl's body in his palm against his chest. Then Link laid on his side, facing the ocarina, and picked it up with his free hand. Link rested the fairy down on his scared chest lightly and laid down on his back, now content with never having to move from this spot, until death should come.

He brought the ocarina up to his face and wiped off the little chips of debris now covering it, his fingers finding a crack in its surface. Link looked sadly at it for quite a while, realizing now he'd never be able to keep his promise and return home to Zelda. He looked up when he heard the town walls beginning to crumble, the moon now practically entering the city, the great white walls tumbling down and crashing into the plaza.

Link hardly took notice, and brought the instrument slowly up to his snout and attempted to blow into it with what little strength he had left, without perfectly sealing the mouthpiece. It worked better than he had thought it would, and the open note flowed beautifully through the holes. The Deku scrub closed his eyes restfully, at peace with himself as his fingers began to fly across the holes and play a melody from Hyrule, a melody that he'd used on his travels in another time. The song took him back to the verdant green hills... to the beautiful shining sun... to the small villages filled with prosperity...

Tatl twitched slightly on his chest, as if soothed by the melody he was playing, only audible to them over the roaring of the fiery sky. Link's swan song comforted them both, and guided them into the dark abyss they found themselves falling deeper and deeper into. They fell willingly and helplessly into, the world around them fading from view.

Link took this for dying; his body was relaxing as the stream of air coming from him began to weaken... but it was peaceful. The pain was ebbing, the bliss of the music surrounding him as he was finally resting. He wanted it to happen now, before the fire had to do it. And so he fell back, welcoming it, as he huddled together with his fairy, both on the pile of debris where they had first entered Clock Tower. The sky of fire was gone, the moon tearing down the town walls was no longer there, and the noises faded into silence. A ringing noise filled both of their ears as their limbs tingled with a weakening sensation, an empty void surrounding them as they descended through the dark chasm of time.


	7. Song of Time

Note: Hm, decided to mix things up a bit and put the note at the beginning of the chapter... mainly to reassure you that I'm not spanning the "insert horizontal ruler" button in this chapter. Any small snippet to personify traveling back in time is not done just to fill up the chapter, but to explain what it felt like in writing, among other things. Also, these flashbacks, or dreams, or whatever you want to call them, that Link is beginning to have about Hyrule, _are_ eventually leading up to something, and not merely distractions. I'm interested as to what kind of responses to this chapter there will be, seeing how hardly any of it actually happened in the video game.

* * *

_Chapter 7: Song of Time_

Epona was trumpeting through the forest madly, the Skull Kid on her back driving her forward, the two fairies, purple and white, trying to keep up, all underneath the dense forest veiled in darkness. Link held onto the saddle of the horse in an attempt to stop the thief as Epona continued madly and wildly through the wilderness, weaving in between tree after tree, narrowly missing each and every stump. Link grunted and groaned throughout the entire time, trying his best to hold on while keeping his legs in the air. His skin caught on the ground at one point during the pursuit, tearing a long, slender cut into his leg. It began to bleed, but Link merely squeezed his eyes shut and held himself closer and tighter towards his horse. "I'm not going to let him take you," whispered Link to himself, fighting back any tears.

When the Skull Kid reined Epona to the right suddenly, the lower half of his body caught on a tree stump, and Link spiraled off of the horse, bringing all of his belongings down onto the ground with him. He laid there for only a moment in shock.

* * *

The skull kid was there again in the spotlight, still levitating in a posture of luxury, arms across his chest, the two fairies floating by his side. Link was unable to read anyone's expression, since the imp had his mask and the fairies were silent, their faces hidden within their balls of light. He went to take a step forward, but when he did, he felt... his hands. His sword and shield were no longer there, but that wasn't the problem. His hands were... made of a wooden texture.

He screamed, a high-pitched wail that sounded as if it came from a very young, defenseless animal, which he realized he was now. The skull kid's spell... had turned him into a Deku scrub. He had the long, hollow, open ended snout and the glowing orange eyes staring back at him from the water on the wooden-like face.

* * *

"Take me with you and I'll help you out. Deal?... Please?" The white fairy waited for his response, both of them in the darkness of the underground tunnels, Link trapped in his Deku Scrub body and the fairy providing the only light, it bouncing off of the walls and filling the air. He would have normally told her to scram as his next response, calling her a few choice words that bubbled within his head, but... the unconscious desire for him to be a hero again, an adventurer, with Navi by his side once more blossomed. This small portion of him was satisfied by the appearance of this fairy, and Link realized he had no choice but to give into it.

Link nodded his head. The fairy jumped happily in excitement, turning back to face Link when she was done with her half-a-second celebration.

"Good! So then it's settled!" she continued floating just in front of him, bobbing up and down at a happier tempo now. "Now then, I'll be your partner... or at least until we catch that Skull Kid. My name's Tatl."

* * *

"What? Is it not a simple task? Why, to someone like you, it should by no means be a difficult task. Except... the one thing is... I'm a very busy fellow, and I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up." Link gulped slightly at the knowledge of himself this man seemed to have, the water rushing as the wheels turned from the inside of the clock tower in the distance.

* * *

The townsfolk in the main plaza of South Clock Town, where the clock tower was located, looked curiously at the set of doors with oddly shaped, colorful designs covering it. They were located at the base of the clock tower and hardly ever opened, but whenever they _did_ open, it never usually brought anything of great benefit to the people. The first time they had opened, as long as anyone alive could remember, had been the only real peaceful visitor. The old man had stumbled into the sunlight and laid down on the pavement, a huge smile on his face as he had died right there before anyone could have done anything about it. The worst time, everyone would have had to agreed, was when the skull kid had came. While at first he'd only seemed to be a child playing games, they quickly realized the extent of his corruption.

And now, oddly enough, another child stumbled out of the doors. This was no human or skull child, but a Deku Scrub. He seemed like he'd had a rough time getting here, severe, bleeding injuries adorning him while a cloud of dust and filth surrounded him. He stumbled out into the bright sunlight weakly and, large orange eyes squinted in the rays, brought his hands up to shield them in utter bewilderment and disbelief. A glowing orb with a pair white wings, large proportional to the orb itself but small to them, fluttered out beside the Deku Scrub, in much better condition than the former: a fairy.  
The small group of men constructing a large wooden structure in the center of the plaza looked up from their work, an adult Deku Scrub flying with his helicopter-like feathers low to the ground, struggling with several large bags, looked over curiously, a tall, lanky man in a white jogging suit and large red hat, large red bag slung over his shoulder, turned his head by as he jogged out from behind the clock tower, and a small child, a peculiar fox-like mask covering his face, shoulder-length purple hair coming to his shoulders, running out from around a corner in the back of the square, looked up as he traveled across. All of their eyes, found the young Deku Scrub, and he only stood their, eyes half-closed, at this place that seemed to have rebuilt itself in front of his eyes.

Link's legs wobbled and were only able to support him for a split second; he collapsed onto the plaza and the ocarina in his hand spun a few feet in front of him. He blinked dazedly in the sunlight, the fiery sky still burned into his eyes as if forever engraved; his senses reeled in confusion when he realized that the debris and disappeared, the sun had come out, and the clock tower was sound and sturdy behind him. Mad, he thought... _am I dead?_

"Woah, woah!" Tatl suddenly exclaimed beside him, her wings rigid with shock as she turned to look at her fallen ally. Link could only moan in response, huddled on the ground in the warmth of the light, much more pleasant than that of the fire had been, his strength no more than it had when he'd been dying on the piles of stone and wood; he was still dying... but was now suddenly here, in South Clock Town, as if nothing had happened.

"... _Tatl... something's wrong_...," he forced out of his throat, coughing a harsh, rasping cough and tasting blood in his mouth once more.

"Did you just talk? ... Are you okay?" the fairy said nervously, flying down to get closer at the Deku Scrub. "What happened, Deku boy? You just... fell down and now you're..." she stopped short when she seemed to notice what critical condition he was in, "Oh no... Help!" The fairy yelled at the already staring crowd; even the postman had paused to look and see what was happening, among the merchants and carpenters.

"What happened?" the lanky postman asked, adjusting the large red bag on his shoulder and looking nervously down at the fallen child.

"I don't know!" Tatl explained, turning away from Link as her voice became shaky. "We were just fine under the clock tower, and when we came out here, he just suddenly... starting bleeding... ugh, it looks like he's been eaten alive; I don't know what happened!"

"So you guys...," the postman began, looking more interestingly at the clock tower's doors rather than the Deku Scrub, "... came from that door? From where?"

"Look, I don't have time to explain; just get him help!" The postman looked up at her stupidly, as if not understanding, but Tatl made sure she was clear the next time: "Turn around, and dance on your clumsy little spider legs to the nearest medically proficient person in this town, instead of looking at me like an idiot! He's dying!" He didn't have to be told twice, and then ran off into the gathering crowd of merchants and carpenters out of sight.

Tatl looked nervously around at all of the people that were beginning to form a circle around them, not looking down at the Deku Scrub until she thought she'd heard him say something. The white fairy quickly turned away from the crowd and flew down close to his face; he was currently lying on his side, facing away from the crowd as blood seeped out in between his fingers that were attempting to clutch the wounds. "Huh?"

"_Tatl..._," Link stammered again.

"Yes?" the fairy asked sadly.

"_I was wrong... I did save you..._" He gave a small smile at this, Tatl looking as worried and as confused as ever, and then the Deku Scrub lost consciousness, the fairy trying to keep him awake as he slipped away, in vain.

* * *

The two of them were standing just outside of the giant wall that surrounded Hyrule's bustling marketplace, on the drawbridge that connected it to the seemingly endless, rolling hills of Hyrule fields that connected the land to all of its many areas. The sun was hidden behind the gloom of the cloudy midday, and the soft breeze gently danced through the air, Zelda's elaborate dress hardly rustling. The green clothed, blonde haired youth led the young horse by the reins away from the princess... Hyrule... the ranch... home for the two of them.

"_Link!_" Zelda exclaimed, as the boy in the tunic threatened to leave her.

Link stopped short, wondering if he should even turn around; it would be less painful if he kept walking.

He found the urge irresistible, and turned around.

Zelda, at a loss for words at first, found them. "Please don't forget me; don't forget Hyrule. You'll come back, won't you?"

Link didn't answer at first. "I promise." And then he threw himself over Epona's back, and the two rode off towards the mountains, leaving Zelda behind on the drawbridge.

The wind blew fiercely in his face as he rode, Epona's hooves propelling them forward across the grass at speeds Link had always known her capable of. He made no mistake of turning around yet again, knowing that doing so would make it physically impossible to leave this place behind. _And you've been preparing for this moment for so long_, he thought to himself, knowing that it had been emotional preparation for the most part, rather than physical. The only tools he had on his person were his shield, sword, and the Ocarina of Time, intending to pick up more on his way through Goron City.

It didn't take long before Epona's hooves began to kick off of the stone bridge branching over the Hyrulian river, Link peering down from the saddle into the water's shimmering surface, his dark blue eyes looking back at him. The mountains, while still far off, continued to grow larger as the castle walls grew smaller, Link and his horse eventually reaching the beginning of the sloping land that marked the beginning of mountain territory. Epona slowed to make this climb successfully, though showing no visible fatigue as she carried onward.

The two traveled, accompanied only by the noise of the wind and the horse's efforts at transporting her master. It wasn't but an hour before the town gate was finally in view, tall and wooden, the opening guarded by a guard in shining armor. The modest village of Kakariko was located in the a large valley in the beginnings of the mountains; passed the north boundary of the village was the tall, rocky, and dangerous Death Mountain; passed the southern boundary were only small rises in elevation gradually going downwards until they lead, eventually to Hyrule field. The road into the village cut through and into the valley, the wooden gates of the town reinforced on each side by elevated land.

Link passed through slowly on his horse, the guard recognizing his Kokiri clothing instantly and nodding his head, "Good day, Hero. Is there anything you need?"

"No," he said, going through the opening the fence made as he said it. "Just passing through." The cloudy skies above grumbled slightly as Epona continued on the grassy, fertile land of the village; it was a place Link visited quite often, and one he would miss sorely once he had left Hyrule, for however long he was gone. He and Zelda had spent much time with the Cucco keeper here, whom was their closest friend in the town, and whom Link had come to say good-bye.

He passed the large tree in the center of the town, where Mutoh, the carpenter of the town, was yelling angrily at his younger employees, slacking on their job, as always. Link smiled to himself at this, and continued onward into the first grouping of buildings in the town, the second group being on a second story, further up the valley. On his way to the house, Link looked to his left forebodingly at the town well going deep into the ground, its black stone slick. He knew what had come out of it... seven years in the future... and wondered if destroying it then meant it was destroyed now.

Link pushed on regardless, turning his green-hatted head away as Epona stopped at the front of the large, two story house. He slid off of the saddle, tied the horse's reins to the post in front of the house, and then knocked on the front door. "Hello? It's me, Link."

"... Come in," replied a young female voice from the other side of the door. Link turned the knob of the unlocked door and pushed it open.

His eyes found-

* * *

A crash awoke the Deku Scrub from his dream, the sound of glass breaking from another room. His heart was racing when his head first shot off of the pillow, but then he quickly calmed down, and turned from the closed door from behind which the accident had happened to examine the room he was in. It was unfamiliar to him, yet he thought he somehow knew where he was. It was a large room very similar to the Knife Chamber that he'd stayed in at the Stock Pot Inn, except larger and yellow-themed versus green, a bookshelf and the rearrangement of furniture being the only major differences. Also, standing in the room in between the two beds, was a wooden mannequin of some sort, an elaborate white dress resting over it; it was beautiful, he thought, looking as if for a wedding ceremony. A bright, golden mask rested where the face of the person would be on the mannequin, just above the dress and adding to its beauty.

Link scooted back to sit up in his bed, but his body screamed in protest at the slightest attempt at movement. His head spun with the effort of sitting up, and the Deku Scrub slowly and feebly rested his head down back on the pillow. Link lifted the covers to see the extent of his injuries; he was now covered in white gauss and bandages, in addition to the one he'd already had on his arm, each stained red and crudely wrapped. It didn't look like it had been an easy task stabilizing him, from the chaos of stitching and covering that was on him. He moaned at the sight of this, wondering how severe everything had turned out to be; given his failure at trying to sit up, he obviously wasn't completely recovered from his several story fall and bombardment of clock tower debris.

Then Link's thoughts turned to other things, waiting for information on his current physical condition when someone would come into the room to tell him. For one: what exactly had happened? The last thing Link remembered, from his time spent under the full power of the moon, was seeing the city walls crumbling; after that, he thought he'd died. The Deku Scrub had lost consciousness, his life from the forest to Clock Town flashing before his eyes as it had happened; then he'd suddenly appeared in front of the clock tower doors, the clock tower completely intact and everyone still in the village as if the moon had never come. He'd completely reassured himself that he was dead when he'd collapsed in the plaza, but now he wasn't so sure that was true. Why would he be in the Stock Pot Inn, still injured, if he were dead? None of it made any sense.

_I need to talk to Tatl_, Link finally concluded. Whatever had happened, she had been in the same situation as him, and hopefully had figured it out. She was no where in the room, but as soon as he found her, Link felt all of his problems could be put at ease. He tried to push another realization he'd just had as well to the back of his mind: the fact that last time he'd fallen unconscious injured, she'd been waiting for him at his bed side to wake up.

Link only sat in his bed for several more minutes, spending most of his time looking out the window on the wall to his right that the bed was up against at the night sky, before the door to his room opened, and a young lady with shoulder-length, dark red hair entered the room: Anju, the hotel keeper. She was wearing the same outfit, skirt and all, that she'd been wearing the day he'd checked into the hotel.

"_Anju_," Link said weakly from across the room at her, smiling at the appearance of someone he knew.

She was carrying a tray, upon which a large glass bottle with a stopper in it was being balanced beside a bowl curls of heat rose from. "Uh... hi," Anju stammered as she walked into the room, trying her best to acknowledge him and balance the tray at the same time; Link, looking through the now open doorway onto the Stock Pot Inn's hallway, saw a second tray face down on the floor, shattered glass surrounding it, explaining the crash that had awaken him. "It's nice to see you're finally awake."

Anju set the tray down on the small table stand next to his bed and took the stopper out of the bottle, setting it down, and Link peered over, trying hardly to move at all, and saw that the bowl was filled with some sort of porridge or oatmeal. Smelling it, his stomach turned it away; he highly doubted that he'd actually eaten, but regardless, his body was not ready to take in any food. "_Thank you_," the Deku Scrub said regardless, taking a drink of the bottle of water and then setting it back down on the tray.

Anju then backed away and stood there, confusedly looking down at the Deku Scrub, not sure what to say, but wanting to say something. It didn't take long for Link to grow a look of confusion too, and the two stared at each other, Anju timidly and Link not understanding. "_What's wrong?_" he finally asked, in the high-pitched voice he'd been forced to have ever since the skull kid's curse.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head and turning away from him, having just now noticed she was staring, "it's just... no one's ever come from inside of the clock tower before, and... what you were saying in your dreams..." Anju trailed off, nervously glancing over to look at the wedding dress as if it was a suitable deterrent from the conversation.

"_What did I say?_"

"It's just... you were talking about... Kafei... and... what you _said_ about him..." Anju gasped slightly, looking at the wedding dress with fear now. She then turned around and looked at Link closely. "I know we should be talking about you, and how you're doing, but I have to know whether or not what you said about Kafei was true. I mean... how do you even know him? How do you know me?"

Link licked his lips nervously, the only moisture being from the water he'd just taken. "_Uh... Only from when you saved from drowning, and when you gave me the hotel for when the moon was about to fall._" This was no help to Anju; she was unaffected, expression-wise, by anything he'd said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she finally said, after she'd noticed how truthful he'd seemed to be. "I didn't save you from drowning; you have to be thinking about someone else. I don't even know your name... this is the first time I've spoken to you."

Link didn't quite understand at first, scoffing as he looked up at her to spot any kind of playfulness in her face or tone; there was none. Anju was being dead serious. "... _But... you did... you were sitting on the bench next to Laundry Pool... it was raining, it was the second day I was here..._" Link tried his best to grab details, but none made the slightest impression upon Anju.

"From what I've heard from everyone else, this is your first day here; you had just walked in from underneath the clock tower when you collapsed." Link turned away from her, thinking hard, but not making any sense out of the conversation they were having. "But you have to tell me...," she began, taking a few steps closer to his bedside.

"Is Kafei dead?"

Link turned to look at her at this, eyebrows still furrowed; this is what Anju had been pressing to be discussed the entire time. Her eyes were shining with hope, or perhaps in preparation for what he might say. "... _I... wouldn't know. I've never seen him before._"

Anju stuttered at this, but then gave up speaking, bringing her hands back down to her side from her mouth that was open in disbelief. She then turned away quickly and walked out of the room, not shutting the door all the way behind her. Link continued to stare at where she'd been, lost in thought. _She doesn't remember me_, Link thought, and he gulped, wondering what all of this could mean. He didn't have very long to think before someone else entered the room, the someone he'd been waiting for.

The white fairy entered the room shyly at first, acting like she wasn't sure if she belonged there. Tatl decided so regardless, coming into the room completely and flying about half-way over to Link. "_Tatl!_" Link exclaimed excitedly, a weak smile spreading across his face at her appearance.

"Uh... hey...," Tatl stammered, Link not quite understanding the way in which she was speaking.

"_What's... wrong?_" he asked, looking worried.

"I just, don't understand," Tatl finally said, after a moment's thought, seeming to have found the right thing to say. "I mean, I don't even know your name."

Link froze; his mind went blank and numb with fear. This wasn't possible; it just simply couldn't have happened. She was joking with him... that had to be it. Tatl, of all of the people in this town... couldn't have forgotten him too. "_It's me, Tatl_," Link said, with great fear in his voice. "_It's Link._"

"Link?" Tatl inquired, flying a bit closer to the Deku Scrub's side. "I didn't know that, but that explains why I had thought you were saying Ink."

"_You don't remember me?_" Link stammered, the full weakness of his physical condition descending upon him again. "_You don't remember us, at all?_"

"Of course I do!" Tatl exclaimed, seeming taken back, but Link's small burst of hope faded with what she said next. "The Skull Kid stole your horse, turned you into a Deku Scrub, and then left you behind with me; we kind of got stuck together."

"_That's not what I mean_," Link said. "_You don't remember us here, in Clock Town? Us waiting for the clock tower to open up so we could see the Skull Kid? Us..._" Link gulped before he said it, "... _dying together?_"

Tatl was about to respond harshly to what he was saying, until she saw the sincerity in his voice and face. "Kid... _Link_... you were talking about all of that stuff while you were sleeping, but no one here... the astronomer, Anju, her mom, the postman, the guard... had any idea what you meant; no one here knows you at all, except me, but not apparently as well as you think I do. We've been waiting for you to wake up, to try and figure out what you meant by all of that, and what exactly happened when you suddenly fell over."

"_Stop it!_" Link suddenly squealed, taking Tatl by complete shock as the small Deku Scrub threw the covers off of himself and slid down onto the floor. His head swam dangerously and his legs pleaded with him not to stand up, but his determination allowed him not to collapse.

"Woah, Deku boy!" Tatl warned him. "Get back in the bed... you're not ready to stand up yet. I don't think you realize how bad of shape you're in..."

"_No, you don't know what you're talking about!_" Link yelled back at her, furious, though not quite sure his anger was being directed correctly; he, however, could care less at the moment. "_I spent three days in this place... and you were there too for most of it! We accidentally took someone else's reservation when we checked in at the Stock Pot inn... we... we... we fought the Skulltulas to get to the astronomer so he could tell us where the Skull Kid was, after I finally found the stray fairy. We found out we had to wait until the clock tower opened at midnight on the carnival... and then when we went up there, everything went wrong! The Skull Kid killed your brother... the moon knocked over the tower and... killed both of us, or it almost did..._"

"Link, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Tatl interrupted, beginning to grow angry herself, her state of being worried for the Deku Scrub being out of bed passing. "None of that ever happened; the moon never crashed into the city, like you said over and over again in your sleep. You just... fell over; that's the only thing you've ever done in Clock Town! You fell over because you suddenly had a bunch of gashes in you!"

"_I had a bunch of gashes in me because of the tower falling over; WE were both on top of it when it happened!_" Link yelled angrily.

"Oh yeah?" Tatl inquired skeptically, her wings buzzing in place furiously. "Then why isn't the clock tower destroyed right now?"

"_I don't know!_" Link said angrily. He tried to take a step forward, and had to hold on to the bed for support. "_All I know... is that were both lying on top of the broken clock tower, and then I started playing a song on my ocarina... and then I blacked out. The next thing I knew, I was back in front of the clock tower like nothing ever happened!_"

"What?" she exclaimed in disbelief. "What song did you play? "Mary Had a Little Cucco"? Did it magically make everything better as if nothing happened?"

"_No! I played the Song of..._" he stopped short thought... _time_. The Song of Time; suddenly it all made sense now. The clock tower wasn't destroyed, no one had left town yet, no one remembered him... because none of it had happened yet. _The Goddess of Time helped you last time you were in trouble; I'm sure she'd do it again if she had to._ The Goddess of Time had helped him yet again, this time, instead of sending him seven years into the future, she had sent him three days into the past, to when he'd first entered through the clock tower's doors.

"Link... you really should get back into bed," Tatl warned him, her anger obviously calmed by the fact that he'd trailed off and looked troubled; she'd taken this for physical ailment.

"_I went back in time_," he finally said. "_And for some reason, you didn't come with me._"

"And yet your ocarina did?" Tatl asked curiously. "I noticed you did have that; I was there when the Skull Kid took it from you, and have no idea how you got it back."

"_You were there when I took it back_," Link said, panting, realizing that he was losing the physical ability to stand.

"Stop saying that!" Tatl said angrily. "I wasn't; you never went back in time. You're just... delusional."

"_No, you are,_" Link said stupidly, his head beginning to swim as he tried to remain upright leaning against the bed.

"... Please get back in bed before I have to get someone to pick you up off the floor." Link looked as if he was going to protest, but then almost fainted again. He slowly climbed back into the bed, resting his head on the pillow and once again at peace, his eyes shut.

"_You were with me... you were touching me when I played the song..._," Link finally said in the moment of silence. "_I don't know why you came back in time with me uninjured and not remembering anything; you were dying too._" Then... he seemed to understand, and Link's look of puzzlement slowly began to turn into a look of sadness, staring up at the roof as he said and thought these things. Tatl slowly flew up to be just beside his bed, looking at him sorrowfully.

"_I didn't save you_," Link said after several moments of silence, tears just beginning to pool in his eyes as he said it. "_You died._" Tatl merely remained floating by his bedside, noticing that he really was actually upset; whether or not any of this had actually happened, he definitely and sincerely believed it _had_ happened. "_You died on my chest, while I played the Song of Time; that's why you couldn't come back in time with me... that's why... you were there, as if nothing had happened, because the Tatl I knew... didn't exist anymore._" The tear was unable to trickle down his cheek, since he was lying flat on his back, it rolling down onto the pillow just beside his ear.

Tatl was speechless, only floating by his side silently. "_She died... and all of our memories with her._" Link turned his head to face the fairy that floated beside him just now; yes, the fairy was Tatl, but it wasn't the same Tatl he'd grown to know and trust over the three day period in Clock Town.

A moment of silence prevailed, Link wiping the tear or two that he'd allowed to escape his eyes, trying to recompose himself, as he recalled the last thing she'd said to him underneath the moon's full power. She'd called him Deku head, and it wasn't until now that he realized that it was a term of endearment, one that he would miss.

"Link...," Tatl finally said, breaking the moment of silence. "I think you've made this up in your head... because of something else." Link almost let forth a new bundle of anger upon her, but then he realized that he was too weak for that, and that... his anger would be misplaced if he had done so. The Deku Scrub didn't believe that he would believe himself either, were he in her position. "_You_... are the one who's dying. Shikashi, the astronomer, did everything he could to try and heal you, but he said he couldn't. According to him, though he was able to stabilize you, whatever really happened to you... did too much damage internally. He said you have two or three days left... at the most."

Link wasn't sure how to take this news; he merely continued to stare at the roof, his eyes wide and thoughtful, the moon's havoc upon South Clock Town still crystal clear to him. "Someone had to tell you... I just thought I'd be the one."

He didn't say anything at first, only doing so after silence had done some of the first talking. "_Thank you_," he finally said, adding, "_Tatl_." afterwards with much difficulty.

"Do you... want to talk about it? Do you need anything at all?" the fairy asked, concerned.

"_No. I don't think so._"

"Alright." Tatl then flew away from him slightly, turning away completely as she began to speak again. "About what the mask salesman asked you to do... to get the mask and your ocarina back... I'm... going to try and find Skull Kid." Link did not react at all to the news. "I have a feeling he's not actually here in Clock Town, and I think I should find him and convince him to give the mask back to me before he does any real trouble, since obviously you can't really be of any help yourself." The fairy waited for a response or answer, but received none. "I'd be back before... you know. I'd only be gone for a day or so. Do you think you'd be fine... here with Anju?" Once again, silence. "Please Link, it's only practical; the mask salesman only gave us three days and... I'd feel useless just sitting around here. I've been thinking about it all yesterday, and it just seems like the best way to get things done. You have Anju to take care of you and this room as long as you need it; you'll be fine, right?"

"... _You've already done it_," Link answered.

Tatl turned to face him abruptly, confused. "What?"

"_You already left me, last time; you said I was useless and then left Clock Town to try to solve everything on your own._"

The white fairy was only able to float there, not sure what to add, or how to defend herself. "I..." She looked down at him, though with true regret, Link could not tell. "I'm sorry... but it's the only thing I can do." And then the fairy turned around to leave, pausing, as if wondering if she should say anything else. Link turned his head to look at her and then signed, glancing at his tray of food and drink as he did; he picked up the bottle of water and looked at its contents sadly. Tatl then flew out the door and out of sight.

"_Wait!_" Link called out, hoping he had not been too late. He looked at the doorway hopefully, but no one came. A few moments later, however, Tatl flew back into the doorway to acknowledge his call, and looked at him, telling him to say what he had to say. "... _What if I could show you something... that would prove it to you?_"

Tatl remained floating in the doorway, considering, and then she entered the room. "Prove... the time travel stuff to me?" Link nodded, the covers pulled up to his neck, and Tatl flew closer to the bed side. "You're telling me... that you have something on you right now... that can prove this time travel stuff?"

"_I think so_," Link said, looking seriously at the fairy. Tatl stopped just at his bed side, looking with interest at the Deku Scrub lying in the bed, who scooted himself into an upright position, still huddled under the covers for warmth.

"Well... what is it?"

Then, Link unexpectedly leapt from the covers of the bed at the fairy, springing out of it directly at her. Tatl's wings were only able to stiffen in shock as his light body, though heavier than her own, came down on top of her. He crashed to the floor with the fairy in his arms tightly, holding her as close as he could to himself, Tatl struggling to get free as Link attempted to get only one arm to hold the fairy, doing something else with the other one. "Let... me... what are you do-. Help!" She struggled against the feeble Deku Scrub, who was on the very brink of collapse from all the physical struggle on his dying body.

Tatl attempted to look and see what was in his other hand that was no longer holding him, and saw that a large, glass bottle was in that hand, the stopper taken out and only a little bit of water in the bottom. She gasped when she realized what was about to happen. "No... you... don't!" But it was too late. Link grabbed the fairy in his hand, and then shoved her into the opening of the bottle, attempting to squeeze her passed the smallness of it. "Gaaaahhh!" The fairy screamed in protest as he tried his best, sitting on the floor, to shove her into the bottle.

Finally, she was in, the force with which he had been pushing her causing her to fly into the opposite end of the small bottle in the water. "Hey!" Tatl called out instantly, looking around confused in the very small bottle; it was twice as big as her, and therefore offered little room to fly around. She rushed towards the opening as the bottle moved around; though she was able to see through any end of the battle, since it was clear glass, it was dizzy confusion in the corner of her eye as she rushed for the exit. However, just before she reached it, she realized Link had been walking over to the tray on the table, and a cork was suddenly shoved into the bottle just as she reached the exit, twisted snuggly in place.

"_What in the name Din do you think you're doing?_" Tatl shrieked horribly, banging against the sides of the bottle futile. "_Dying, delusional Deku Scrub or not, you're finished when I get out of here!_"

Link sat on the floor up against the bed, panting, the bottled fairy in his left hand as he looked up at the roof, trying to summon every ounce of strength he had left so that he could remain conscious. Tatl continued to struggle from within its confines, but it didn't even make any noticeable effect to Link. She was trapped, and there was no way she was getting out until he let her out.

"_I'm_...," Link began, breathing in and out heavily as his head spun. Though Tatl could hear him perfectly from outside of the bottle, she did not pause to hear him speak as she struggled to escape. Link continued more for himself than as an explanation for the fairy. "_I'm going to prove to you... that my ocarina can time travel_." He smiled to himself at the notion, closing his eyes restfully as he tried to remain awake; he knew Tatl wouldn't have agreed to come with him otherwise, for not believing him and not wanting him out of the bed, and the water bottle Anju had given him had been the perfect solution.

"You've got to be kidding me," Tatl said, stopping her tries at escaping as he said this. "That's great... how do you even get yourself into these messes, Tatl? Here you are, in the bottle of a deranged, dying, cursed Deku Scrub, that's going to try and play a magic song and take us back through time. How wonderful."

Link didn't respond to her sarcasm, and then began to struggle getting to his feet. "You really might want to reconsider though; you don't look so hot. Not sure you're in the best condition to be... time traveling." He continued nonetheless, now having both feet flat on the ground, but still no where near supporting himself with his knees in a standing position. Tatl continued as he began to push himself up, bottle left on the floor as he did so. "You know, you still do have two days left, I wouldn't lose them by doing this. Anyways, what good would it do, taking me back in time, if any of this were even true? So, we appear in the plaza and everything is as if it never happened... you're _still_ dying... and it would just be making it worse, because then Anju wouldn't know to take care of you."

"_Because Tatl_," he began, now on his feet and staring at the open door across the room from him intently. "_Don't you know what this means?_"

"That you're going to kill yourself trying to convince me that I died?" She sighed as he bent down and picked up the bottle, the filling of helplessness she now had from withing her prison bothering her to no end.

"_The Goddess of Time helped me before by letting me travel back and forth in time seven years to stop Hyrule from being destroyed_," he explained. "_This time... I think she's letting me do it again, except letting me relive the same three days, until I can figure out a way to stop the moon from falling. I can't die... with this knowledge, with this truth and last chance for Clock Town's survival... gone with me_"

"Wait... you were being serious? You honestly think the moon's going to fall?" Tatl exclaimed, as they made their way towards to door, Link using the tables, dressers, and beds for support, passing the wedding dress as the fairy finished her sentence. "Just because it's bigger and has a face now... doesn't mean it's going to crash into the town; you're insane! It was just a dream, Deku boy!"

"_It's the skull kid... we have to stop him_."

"No, you have to stop, right now! Where do you even think you're going?"

"_To..._," Link stopped, however, when he realized that he didn't know where his ocarina was. He'd dropped it in the plaza of South Clock Town, but then he'd fainted and woken up here. "_Where did you put my ocarina?_"

"Why would I tell you?" Tatl asked from within the bottle. "You sure didn't think this plan through very well, Mr. Kidnapper."

"_Tatl_," he began, looking down at the bottle as he stopped in the doorway, the shattered glass and stray still in the hallway. "_The fairy that was loyal enough to die by my side... did die; you're not her, and I would have no trouble _forcing _you to tell me where it is._"

"Forcing me?" She looked at him, looking to see whether or not he was bluffing. "... You don't have the guts."

"_You can tell that to the torches going in East Clock Town; I'd bet they could heat glass pretty fast._" Link tried his best to sound convincing, though deep down inside knowing he would not be able to do that to her; he felt sick, dizzy, weak... the act of walking and talking was costing ever bit of strength and determination he had left. He tried his best to look away from the bottle, so Tatl couldn't tell, hoping the fairy was too busy fretting in her prison to question his seriousness.

"... You've lost it!" Tatl finally said. "Seriously, dude; just let me go!" She banged from the inside of the bottle once again, but then stopped, sighing, having come up with some solution. "Alright, fine. If you want to kill yourself, go ahead and do it. The ocarina is in the front desk in the lobby."

"_Thanks_," Link replied, and the fairy grumbled angrily from within the glass confines. He stepped into the hallway carefully, trying his best not to step on a shard that could pierce his feet. Upon letting go of the doorway, his legs almost failed him, but he pushed on, keeping the fairy in his hand. Eventually he went down to the end of the hallway nearest him and carefully inched his way down the staircase. Tatl peered nervously from within the bottle, wondering how badly herself would be hurt should the Deku Scrub fall.

He didn't, however, and Link managed to make it through the Stock Pot Inn to behind Anju's desk without running into anybody. He began opening drawers hastily and at random, finding keys and papers, but having yet to discover his ocarina. "... You're seriously going through all of her stuff?" Tatl commented, sighing when Link didn't respond to what she'd said.

Then... Link opened a drawer near the bottom of the desk, in which a single piece of paper laid, next to an envelope pulled gently open. He looked at it, and recalled what had happened when he'd first come in here on his first day, trying to get a room; Link had walked in on the postman delivering the hotel keeper a letter, and when he left she'd opened it. Anju's reaction had been quite dramatic, and the Deku Scrub had never found out what it had all been about. Obviously, it had been delivered again in this second time line despite the chaos of him appearing in South Clock Town, dying.

Tatl's wings expressed shock when she saw him lifting the letter out of the drawer tentatively and putting it in front of him. "Wh-... you can't be serious? We came here for your ocarina, not for you to snoop through her things and...! Are you listening to me?"

He wasn't. Link's eyes scanned the page, still bent over the open drawer.

_My love,_

_We've been apart, longer than I can bare, and I believe I owe you an explanation, as to why I still, even now, cannot return to your side. I've been hiding from the world until I am able to keep my promises, but I needed to let you know that I haven't forgotten you. I'm still here, still waiting for the time in which I can take you back into my arms. Please, write back, and address it to the Laundry Pool; I need to know that we can still exchange our masks when the clock strikes midnight, when the Carnival of Time has begun once again._

_Yours Only,_

_Kafei_

Link read the letter carefully twice, trying his best make out exactly what it meant. _No wonder Anju had been so confused when she'd come to sit on the bench in the rain._ It didn't exactly explain what promises he was unable to keep, and it made it sound as if he wasn't sure if their relationship would be able to survive long enough for the Carnival of Time to arrive. Link had been there when the tower had opened; he hadn't seen any sign of Kafei anywhere, and Anju had already left for the ranch at that point. He lowered the letter from his face sadly, wondering what exactly was wrong with Kafei, and why he couldn't just return to her. It seemed as if he was still in love with her... but why couldn't he come back?

The Deku Scrub's ears perked when he heard something behind him, and he turned to see that Tatl had stopped talking, though still in the bottle, and was already looking behind Link at the doorway that lead to the back of the desk. Anju was standing in the doorway, and Link turned around, letter still in hand, looking up at her with shock on his face. His hands twitched on the sides of the letter nervously, as if he had at first intended to hide it behind his back.

Anju didn't say anything, but looked down at him sadly; no anger was present in her face. "_I..._," Link stammered, trying to explain himself. "_I was looking for the ocarina._" He held up the letter, as if that explained everything. When Anju still didn't say anything, Link held it back down to his side, and then turned around nervously. He quickly and ungracefully placed the letter back in the drawer and closed it. Tatl merely watched, unable to go anywhere, smiling to herself at the turn of events.

Anju wasn't sure what to say, merely standing there, something small and blue in her hand. She held it out in front of her, and Link saw that it was the ocarina. "I was going to bring it up to you, but then I thought I heard someone going through my desk and..." She wasn't sure what else there was to add, though she didn't seem to be mad at all, merely confused as to why this dying Deku Scrub had struggled to get all the way here.

"_Anju, I know you don't remember me..._," Link began, looking at the ocarina yearningly as the two females listened to what he had to say, "... _but it's because of that ocarina. It turned back time; that moon, above the clock tower, is going to destroy everything here, and that ocarina is the only thing that saved me from dying. I need it so that I can show Tatl I'm telling the truth, before I die... because I think that's the key to saving Clock Town... and the only hope at reuniting you and Kafei._"

Anju seemed skeptical, hesitant, confused; a mass, jumbled array of emotions that constantly seemed to plague her. She held out the ocarina regardless, and Link took it into his hands. The crack it had received from its fall was still there, but it had been cleaned. He held it in his hands, his Deku Scrub hands, wanting more than anything to have Hyrule's grass beneath his feet and human fingers playing his instrument. Now, he felt, it had truly returned to his side; it would never leave him again.

She then turned away from the doorway and started to walk down the hallway without another word. The Deku Scrub raised an eyebrow in confusion, grabbing the bottle off of the desk containing the now enraged fairy. When he stepped through the doorway, however, she was stopped in the middle of the hallway going towards the kitchen, looking down sadly. Link almost thought to merely leave her there and go, but he stopped himself.

"_You could come with us._" Anju turned around at this, the same expression on her face. The Deku Scrub cleared his throat and then tried to continue. "_I'm not sure exactly how this whole thing works yet... but you don't have to wait here, and die. You can easily just come with me and Tatl, because regardless of what I do once I go back in time, this time line will end the same way, with the moon destroying the world. If you came with us, you wouldn't have to suffer through that._"

She remained silent at first, as if considering it, but her answer that she gave was final. "If there's still a chance that Kafei is here, then I can't leave, no matter what. Even if any of what you're talking about is true... I couldn't live with myself, knowing, that even in some time line that ended in an apocalypse, he showed up to finally be reunited with me, and I wasn't there." Link opened his mouth to argue further, but she held up her hand to prevent him from speaking anymore, a small smile now on her face. "Don't let me stop you; do whatever you think you need to do."

The Deku Scrub nodded to her, and then turned around and went down the hallway to go around the staircase and out into East Clock Town. Tatl seemed shocked in the containment of the bottle, looking at the hotel keeper as if not believe how the conversation had ended up going. "What about me?" Tatl exclaimed as Link continued towards the exit. "Don't worry about the poor, defenseless fairy being dragged along to a suicide mission!" Anju paid no attention to her, the stairwell's wall now preventing them from seeing each other, so it was unclear whether or not she had actually heard her.

Tatl sighed, the Stock Pot Inn's front door being pushed open by Link weakly as they stepped into the darkness of East Clock Town. It was late at night, the town torches once again lit to pierce the night; only one or two people stirred around the plaza, which numbered to a much greater amount than on the last time he had ventured through the plaza from the Stock Pot Inn.

Link began to trudge across the stone, his green hat askew on his head, his pace slow and clumsy, a scarred, bandaged body fighting to remain alive. He felt cold from within, shivering as he progressed, the bottle Tatl was in tightly in one hand and the ocarina in the other. The fairy looked up nervously at the Deku Scrub, wondering how much further he could make it before giving out.

"Where are you taking me anyways?" Tatl exclaimed as Link breathed heavily in his attempt at walking. Link didn't respond, or perhaps wasn't able to. "Can't you just play your magic little time travel song anywhere?"

"_I have to show you...,_" Link exhaled, now halfway through the plaza.

"I applaud you for being so specific," Tatl grumbled. "Really though... you don't have to kill yourself over this. Why don't we just go back to the inn? You can get in bed... and maybe when you're feeling a little bit better we can try again tomorrow."

"_Moon... we can't waste time_."

"Oh, that's right, because the moon decided to join us for the Carnival of Time." She waited for a response, but when she didn't get one, Tatl realized she hadn't even expected one to her sarcasm. "Listen... alright, okay! I believe you!" She banged against the bottle hard and then stared intently at the Deku Scrub, hoping he would turn away from his destination that was the staircase going into South Clock Town and look at her; he did not. "In fact, I even remember dying. It was... it was pretty painful, and then I saw the light... and I saw Kafei too! ... You did say he was dead, right? Anyways, it was crazy... but then, pop! Your magic song made me come back from the dead and defied the laws of nature and all that good stuff, so that we could have a nice happy reunion and-"

Link flung the bottle forward in irritation, causing Tatl to slam into the other side. She growled angrily at this, "This is fairy abuse! Get me out of here right now; I _hate_ being bottled!"

It felt surreal as he crossed the South Clock Town plaza; any passer-by looked in confusion. A young Deku Scrub, struggling to walk towards the clock tower with a bottled fairy in his hand, the same Deku Scrub who had appeared only nineteen hours earlier bleeding profusely. Link's mind was numb and blank, only one objective that he had enough energy left to accomplish. He stared at the spot just in front of the clock tower intently, Tatl now silently watching his efforts. She suddenly pitied him as he strove for what she thought wasn't there with the last of his hope.

Then he was done waking, and stood there, staring up at the awesome height of the black, stone tower. The wooden wheel turned onward, no longer parallel to the ground, but perpendicular, still attached to its face. The moon's hideous face was far above it, two days away from smashing it flat against the ground and killing everyone... as it had last time. Link had given up the notion that he would survive; though walking here had brought it upon him quicker, according to Tatl, he would have died anyways. Though he had been the only one to escape the moon's initial impact, it still would have him claimed as a victim within the hour, Link reasoned.

He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, putting the bottle under his arm as he took the ocarina in both hands. "Link?" Tatl inquired curiously, as other townsfolk looked over. _Please let this work_, Link thought. Part of him hoped that his theory had been correct, that Tatl had not been able to come back in time with him because she was dead. The other part... hoped that he was wrong, and that somehow, somewhere, the Tatl he'd grown to know as his own Navi still existed, and had not been left behind to have her corpse scorched by the moon.

Link brought the ocarina to his snout, and blew as he had at the moment of the apocalypse. His fingers artistically plugged the correct holes in the proper places, the same notes flowing forth as before. Except this time... others could hear it. Tatl listened intently from within the bottle, the carpenters stopped working to glance over, the stalls still open had their owners peering over their counters, all to watch the dying Deku Scrub play a beautiful melody.

Tatl felt herself drifting away as the song continued, each note pulling her further into the restful sensation over-powering her. When the fairy realized what was happening, she quickly attempted to fight it, and resist the pull so as to remain in a firm state of consciousness. It was useless, however, and she merely found herself pulled back into its irresistible, mighty grip. Tatl gave one last futile attempt, but then found herself spinning out of the bottle and into darkness.

* * *

Tatl and Tael flew shakily side by side in place, looking madly around for shelter from the downpour of rain. They were in the great field just outside of Clock Town, the round, walled city easily within walking distance, as well as the observatory just outside of it. Having been flying around, lost and confused, the rain had only driven them into an even hastier search for shelter. The dark, stormy sky ominously shook with thunder, high above everything and casting a shadow of gloom.

Tatl spotted a large, hollowed out, over-turned log in the middle of the field, watching the rain bounce off of its rounded outside. "Hey!" Tatl exclaimed to her brother, nudging against the shaking purple fairy. "Over there!" Tael's wings expressed agreement, and the two quickly flew to be within its protective innards. The fairies entered simultaneously; the inside of the log was dark and dry, the noise of the rain still loud all around them, though they had escaped it. Tael still shook madly from being wet and cold, huddled in the air against his sister as the two struggled to provide each other warmth. "It's okay Tael... we're alright now."

Then Tael's wings suddenly stiffened in shock, and Tatl almost inquired upon this, until she followed his line of sight and saw that they were not the only ones hiding from the rain. On the other side of the log, sitting on the grass and shivering up against the wall, was a creature with small glowing eyes, a beak-like mouth, scare-crow like skin, and frayed old clothing, small and defenseless: a skull kid. The purple and white fairy looked down sadly at the skull kid, who they realized was crying as he shivered... alone.

It wasn't long before the three of them were all huddled together for warmth as the dark skies continued to pour above, the rain hammering endlessly on the world below it.

* * *

The sun was shining brightly down on the fields of Termina, animals running out and about busily, taking advantage of the beautiful weather and prosperous times. Tatl looked around at all of this admiringly, smiling to herself at the way things were going for them.

"... Skull Kid! That's not fair!" The white fairy turned around when she heard this outburst from her brother, Tael; the purple fairy angrily looked at the laughing Skull Kid, whom had popped out of the tall grass they were playing in and scared the fairy. He laughed lightly and happily, Tael, at first upset, steadily joining in. Tatl continued smiling, then deciding to fly in and join on the fun.

* * *

Tatl looked back and forth nervously through the darkness of the forest, the dense trees above blotting out all sunlight. She looked to see if Tael was doing anything to stop him, but he wasn't. The skull kid continued rummaging through the backpack of masks on the unconscious body of the mask salesman, body sprawled out on the ground and mouth agape. "I don't think we should be doing this," Tatl whispered to her brother.

"It's just a game," Tael reassured her, then flying down by the side of the skull kid and leaving Tatl by herself a few feet off. "Whacha' got?"

Skull Kid turned away from the pack and held out a mask in his hands, holding it out in front of himself for Tael to admire it with him. "It's so cool!" the skull kid exclaimed childishly, eagerly awaiting putting it on. It was a dark, heart-shaped mask with spikes sticking out of the top and bottom... purple, overall, but red where the nose and mouth would be, and green where the cheeks of the mask were. The eyes, however, were what stood out the most. They were wide, perfectly circular glowing orange eyes, with a green iris. They stared, unmoving, at the children who had found it, Tatl gulping behind them.

* * *

"Take me with you and I'll help you out. Deal?... Please?" Tatl waited for his response, both of them in the darkness of the underground tunnels, a kid trapped in his Deku Scrub body with a fairy providing the only light, it bouncing off of the walls and filling the air. _Just until we found my brother_, Tatl told herself, not keen on traveling with this stranger whom she'd just meant; she'd never been one to work alone, and felt that she would need someone else's help in order to catch up with the skull kid. Tatl, as she waited for his response, promised herself that she would not get too involved with this character; as soon as she was back where she belonged, she could be on her marry way.

The cursed Deku Scrub nodded his head. Tatl jumped happily in excitement, turning back to face him when she was done with her half-a-second celebration.

"Good! So then it's settled!" she continued floating just in front of him, bobbing up and down at a happier tempo now. "Now then, I'll be your partner... or at least until we catch that Skull Kid. My name's Tatl."

* * *

Then... she was in South Clock town.

The fairy took a minute to realize what had just happened, still in shock and overpowered by whatever had just taken place. Tatl slowly realized that what was in front of her was physically there, and not apart of the sequence of events that had passed before her eyes; she twitched her wings, as if confirming this, not believing. The townsfolk were busily buzzing around in the bright, sunny day, all of them looking up only once to see the newcomers; they worked, indifferently, as if not noticing night had just turned to day. It took Tatl a good minute to realize she was in the bottle again, but as soon as she realized it, the plug was released, and she flew out of the small opening slowly, in awe.

Link looked up at her, still as exhausted as he had been nineteen hours in the future, an empty bottle now in his hand, the ocarina in the other. He didn't say anything, waiting for her to make the first remark, as he closed his eyes and took in the warmth of the sun.

"Wh- What just happened?" Tatl finally exclaimed. "Everything has..." She stopped short, realizing that Link had been right; whatever song he had played, had lulled her into the past, the procession of events having been just that. And now, here they were, as if they had just now exited the clock tower for the first time. "... started over..."

She quickly flew out from under the shadow of the platform to look at the moon high above them... and noticed that it looked farther away. While she'd never actually believe it would have crashed into the town, she had had a sneaking suspicion that it had been getting closer... and now it had been proved. Tatl looked down in confusion at the Deku Scrub who limped weakly by her side to look up at the moon.

"Wha... what are you, anyway?" she asked, wondering what had granted him capabilities such as time control, and what mysterious past had lead him to it. "That song you played... that instrument..." She trailed off, her wings suddenly springing forth with excitement. Tatl turned back to look at the sickly Deku Scrub, Link trying his best to not point out the fact that he was still dying, in order to not end her child-like wonder at what had just happened prematurely. "That instrument!"

Link nodded, lifting up his hand holding the ocarina and showing it to her, which only caused Tatl to jump in excitement again. "Wait! That's it! Your instrument! That mask salesman said that if you got back the precious thing that was stolen from you, he could return you to normal!" Link's eyes slowly filled with understanding as to what she was saying, as he looked away from her and realized that he'd completely forgotten. Over the course of the four days (technically) he'd spent here, and the near death experiences he'd had, it had completely blown his mind that the goal had always been to get the ocarina.

"Did you completely forget, or what?" Tatl exclaimed excitedly, feeling as if she'd accomplished something as well by remembering. She turned towards the clock tower doors and flew towards them. "Come on!" she called out, flying in between the cracks that the two doors made into the darkness.

The dying, cursed, home-sick Deku Scrub did not immediately follow, thinking deeply as he looked at the beautiful designed doors. Here was Tatl again, no longer a blank slate, the passed night they'd spent together already building a new relationship different from the one they'd first had. At first, Link had been hesitant to ever truly accepting this new Tatl _as_ a new Tatl; the old one had died and was gone forever, undeniably... and he would always miss her. But, he realized, the old Tatl _was_ somewhere in this one, locked away, having been brought out by the experiences they'd had the first time around. It was something that could be accomplished, and maybe not in the same ways, but it was possible. It would never be the same exact fairy, but it would be close enough, perhaps to where an even stronger relationship could then be built. Link promised himself never again to let the same fate befall this Tatl; regardless as to whether or not returning to the first day presented him with the original one less she die again, a life still would have been lost, in some alternate reality he'd left behind, and now, there was hope for the two of them. If the mask salesman really could lift the curse, then he wondered if it was a possibility that his fatal injuries could be healed to.

Link smiled, a new found hope inside of him, as he limped weakly into the darkness of the clock tower.

* * *

Responses to "Unrepliable" reviews:

Brad: Hm... something tells me I'd be straying a little from the topic if I did that; maybe you should be the one to bring this Mario/Majora's Mask hybrid to life.


	8. The Black Mark, Part 1

Note: Wow; I didn't intend such a massive delay in between these chapters, but alas, this is something I am only able to do in my "free time", and because of something called APUSH, there is absolutely none of that left anymore. For those of you that want to know what APUSH is, a simple Urban Dictionary look-up would suffice, and maybe you'll understand, from a third party perspective, the pain and suffering I am currently going through. Rest assured, however, I do not plan on stopping progress on this, no matter how slow, and if I did, rather than simply disappearing, I would make sure to tell beforehand. I actually had this finished two days ago, but this "Error Type 2" thing preventing me from posting it. However, I managed to bypass it (hehe) and hopefully will be able to do it again with part 2.

Anywho, enough about the writer and more about the writing: Originally, the "Black Mark" was one chapter, but that was before I realized it was going to be 20 pages long. Rather than force anyone to suffer through such a lengthy block of text, I've divided it into two parts, one posted today, and one posted tomorrow. The latter one was actually very difficult write, which is why it took me so long; I had three different versions before I finally stuck with one. If I had to divide this story into sections, or parts, or books... or whatever you want to call them, this would be the end of the first, the "finale", so to speak. It ties up a plot line I felt needed tying, and opens up several different ones not present in the original Nintendo presentation. I hope you enjoy, for I cannot say the next chapter will be published anytime in the near future.

Small recap, for those who need it: Link, still a Deku Scrub, managed to escape the moon on the final night, but received a fatal injury in doing so, Tatl dying before she could return back in time with him. However, it appears that a new, uninjured Tatl, with no memory of previous journeys in Clock Town, is there at the Dawn of the First Day when Link finishes his song. He, dying slowly the entire, convinces this new Tatl that he is telling the truth, that a previous version of herself really did die, all of their memories with her, and that he does have the ability to time travel. The two go underneath the clock tower, in the hopes that the mask salesman can help them, now that Link's ocarina has been retrieved.

* * *

_Chapter 8: The Black Mark, Part 1_

Link closed the door behind him, blocking out the sunlight and the sounds of the town people. It was now replaced with the darkness of the tower, and the sound of the water, far below the platform he was on, on the base floor of the building where the small stream ran and turned the wheel, turning the large wooden pole through the hole in the platform he would soon be on, in return allowing the clock face on the outside to turn. The Deku Scrub's eyes found Tatl first, being a bright light in this darkness, floating just in front of the door, waiting for Link before she would confront the grown man in the room, standing just next to the rotating pole. Link stepped down from the staircase slowly, attempting to clutch his chest painfully with the hand holding the ocarina as he limped down. The fairy remained by his side, both of them looking at the person whom they'd come to see.

He still wore the same elegant, purple Hyrulian robes he had when he'd first spoken to him, with the same bulbous backpack of masks slung over his shoulders and causing him to hunch over. His eyes were still squinted shut almost, tall and lanky with his short red hair on top. The mask salesman smiled at them as they approached him, Link and Tatl stopping just in front of him to converse. The Deku Scrub's orange eyes looked up sadly and sickly, the mask salesman, however, not finding it necessary to point out his condition.

"Why, hello there," he said as they stopped walking, Tatl backing away slightly from him as he spoke. "You look like you've been having a great day." Link didn't know whether this was sarcasm or not, but if it was, one could hardly tell. He nodded, still hardly standing. "Were you able to recover your precious item from that imp?" Link was about to answer, when a thought suddenly came to mind. According to this man's perception... hadn't they just walked out of the door into Clock Town, having finished talking to him not but one minute ago? Why then, would he inquire as to whether or not he'd completed this task, if time, as far as he was considered, had not allowed for such an accomplishment to have been made?

"We...," began Tatl, speaking before Link, but starting hesitantly. The Deku Scrub thought this courageous of her, seeing how last time she'd been in his presence, she was hiding behind him. "... just walked out the door and came back in. Why do you think we could of done that already?" Though Tatl was lying, Link thought if funny that they had been thinking the same exact thing; he turned back to the mask salesman to see his response.

His smile only grew, having looked at Tatl as she spoke. He then turned to Link, instead of responding to the fairy. "Well... _did_ you just walk out the door?"

Link wasn't sure how to continue, looking up at Tatl as if for some kind of guidance; she gave none. The Deku Scrub turned back to look at the man in front of him, gulping before he continued. "_Why do you think we _didn't?"

"I hate it when someone answers a question with a question," the salesman immediately answered, his eyes widening when he saw the ocarina in his hand. He ecstatically took two giant steps towards Link and bent over to be right in front of his face, shaking the small child by the shoulders excitedly. "Oh! You got it, you got it!"

"Yes, he got it!" Tatl exclaimed in his defense, having backed away from the bipolar salesman upon his celebration with Link. "Now please get off of him; he's hurt!"

The mask salesman stopped when she said this, looking up at her, and then back down at the dying Deku Scrub, hardly able to react against being shaken by the shoulders. "I'm... terribly sorry," he apologized, clearing his throat and backing away carefully, Link slowly getting back to his feet with Tatl trying her best to help him up. "Well, looking at the condition you're in..." He turned away from them and began to walk away towards the other side of the clock tower. "There's no time to lose."

"Where are you going?" Tatl inquired, looking after him as soon as Link was back on his feet crouched over in pain.

The salesman didn't answer, continuing towards the wall seemingly just as dark as the rest. The fairy squinted closely, until she realized that he _was_ headed towards something in particular. Whatever it was, it was massive, a large, black sheet completely covering it. Tatl floated closer in interest, and then the salesman whipped the cover off of the object. It fell heavily to the floor, revealing a massive instrument. It was a piano, made of fine, dark brown wood; three rows of keys made up its surface, the back where the piano strings would normally be concealed, did not have a top to hide them, running up against the wall vertically rather than horizontal to the floor. It was a beautiful piece of art, magnificent to behold. Tatl floated even closer in awe, Link taking a step forward, his head swimming.

"Wow," she commented. "How did we not notice that?"

The salesman slid his heavy backpack off of his shoulders and put it up against the wall, a mask falling out from within its many pockets and landing within a few feet of it. He then pulled a piano bench out from under the piano and sat down upon it, stretching out his fingers in front of the mighty piano, turning back around to look at the fairy and the Deku Scrub. "Do you have your ocarina?" Link nodded his head. "Then listen to me. Please play this song that I am about to perform, and remember it well..."

Link looked down at his ocarina sadly, a dawning sense of fatigue beginning to make it a task to merely blink; this small blue instrument once again had his life in its hands. If whatever the salesman was showing him worked, then so be it, but if it didn't, then Link didn't believe he had the strength to go through the clock tower doors up the stairs. He turned to look up at Tatl. "_Tatl... if it doesn't work..._" His squeaky voice pained him, but the fairy stopped him.

"No, Link; it's going to work. Don't say that." She turned eagerly to the piano, but then looked down when Link still didn't have the ocarina to his snout. "Come on, Deku brain! Get ready to play."

Link timidly brought the ocarina to his lips, shaking slightly from the cold, and looked up at the pianist. "Follow along after me," he said, turning his red head away from them and allowing his fingers to flow across the keys. The notes came out authoritatively, and Link closed his eyes tightly, straining to know each note that was played. He'd always had a knack for playing music by ear, but now had to do it while on the verge of death.

"_Dah-duh-dum, dah-duh-dum_," Link hummed to himself as he fingered his ocarina without blowing into it. Tatl ignored the Deku Scrub and listened to the piano intently.

"It's... beautiful," she said. "I've... never heard anything like it; what... is this song? Huh... Link? What do you think?" He shushed her loudly, trying his best to concentrate on the notes. "Ugh! Fine then; don't mind me here... the poor musically inept fairy." The mask salesman continued, the song basically a repetition of the same pattern, with a few changes each repetition. Tatl continued to listen to the piano, until she heard something else whistle beside her.

The fairy turned and saw Link finally play a note on his ocarina. He winced at the note produced, and then played another one timidly, nodding to himself and then playing two more. Tatl continued to watch interestingly, the salesman looping the song as many times as needed, until Link... finally joined in.

Tatl stood there between the two, feeling slightly left out, as the salesman played the keys of the piano and the Deku Scrub played the ocarina. The duet was beautiful, Tatl's mind freed from thought as she followed the flowing of the tune. As the piano began to break into measures differing from the loop, Link followed effortlessly, as if expecting this change and already knowing the song by heart. "How do you...?"

Link continued playing, eyes closed, allowing the music to take over him. Soon, however, he felt light-headed, the music affecting him as he had felt the Song of Time had. Link stopped playing, but the ocarina's notes continued in his head. He dropped the clay instrument, and it rolled away from him as he looked at himself in awe. He was trembling, the weakness of his condition now fully in control. He fell back... back... into darkness.

It was emptiness, a plain of nothingness in which he now found himself. Link looked back and forth nervously, spotting something far off in front of him. It was a single Deku Scrub, though without red feathers cascading down from the top of his head in a bush, nor blonde hair cropped on top of him. This Deku Scrub was not shorter or squatter than him in his own cursed form either, as most typically were, but the same height and stature. The only difference was that this Deku Scrub lacked the hair, the hat, and the pants; instead of hair, three small, large green leaves stuck out of the top of his head apart from each other. They were twins; the two wooden-textured creatures walked up to confront one another, Link peering interestingly across at this new visitor... or perhaps he was the visitor.

"_Who are you?_" Link asked, suddenly feeling his ailments gone, but his squeaky voice remained.

"_When you find my father_," the Deku Scrub began, in the same exact voice Link had used, ignoring his question, "_tell him that I love him. I didn't run away; I just wanted to see the world. Please... tell him where I am too; so he can say good-bye._"

"_I don't..._," began Link, confusedly shaking his head. "_Who's your father? Where can I find him?_"

"_Good-bye Link; I am in your debt forever for freeing me._" And then the Deku Scrub turned away, walking off into the darkness and leaving Link behind.

"_Wait... what are you talking about?_" he called out, taking a step forward to follow him. "_Where are we?_" However, when Link took the next step, he found himself falling, and spinning through the darkness once again... until...

Link opened his eyes; the sound of the piano was no longer there, but the sound of rushing water and turning wood remained. He was once again underneath the clock tower, except now with Tatl staring directly at him, the mask salesman by her side, the backpack over his shoulders once more. Before Link could even blink, he heard the clattering of wood on the stone floor, and he looked down nervously.

Staring back up at him from the floor was his face... his Deku Scrub face, except it was frozen in time, staring back up at him with the same glowing eyes he had. It took him a minute to realize that... this was a mask, the image of the Deku Scrub he'd seen in the realm of darkness sealed on the face of its wooden surface. He looked down at it interestingly, but suddenly felt confused... different. Link held out his hands, and thought he was dreaming; another dream of Hyrule, of his long last days of peace within his own body. But no, this wasn't a dream, and excitement began to fill him as realization began to struck him.

"Link...!" Tatl exclaimed, as a smile spread across his face... his _own_ face, at that. He'd suddenly grown two feet, his wooden textured skin had been replaced with tanned, soft skin, he was now wearing his full green tunic, his large brown boots were no longer toddler sized, his large green hat was no longer unproportional to the rest of his body, his red utility belt, though empty, was again tight around his waist, and... he was himself again.

"Ta-_ack!_" Link stopped short on his exclamation, having been attempting to speak the way he had been for the best few days and hurting his throat; now he could speak normally, and without the high-pitched, squeaky handicap. His chest breathed in and out normally and steadily, no longer dying from his injuries; he had been healed. His sword and Hyrulian shield were once again clad on his back; the Hero of Time had returned. "I mean... Navi! It worked... it actually worked!" It sounded great to hear his own teenage voice again, and he turned to look at the fairy who'd remained by his cursed side, or some new version of her; they had yet to have a conversation with each other in which he was a human.

"Wow... it did," Tatl said, not sounding as enthusiastic as he'd thought. He stopped celebrating and turned to face her, the fairy not used to his dark blue eyes and blonde hair, a confused expression on his human face, much easier to read than it had been on a Deku Scrub. "But... I don't know who Navi is, Link." Link's confusion only grew more after this, wondering what it was she was talking about.

Before questioning on the matter, the mask salesman, who had been standing there quietly smiling, spoke, "This is a melody that heals evil magic and troubled spirits, turning them into masks; the Song of Healing." Link turned to listen to him, willing to, for the miraculous gift that he had given him. "I am sure it will be of assistance to you in the future." The boy then looked down at the mask on the floor, bending down and picking it up. He held the Deku Scrub Mask in his hands thoughtfully; the mask did not have eye holes, nor any for a nose or a mouth. It would be impossible to see or breathe with it on. His blue eyes looked into the glowing ones, happy that the latter were no longer his own.

"Ah, yes," the mask salesman began, as if reading his mind. "I give you this mask in commemoration of this day. Fear not, for the magic has been sealed inside the mask. When you wear it, you will transform into the shape that you just were. When you remove it, you will return to normal." Link looked down at it still, with interest; though he reasoned that this would be useful in the future, he in no way desired to be a Deku Scrub again anytime soon.

He looked down at his belt, realizing there was no way to attach it, seeing how it didn't have a hole or string anywhere in it. While it did have a small, tight pocket for his ocarina and thick belt loops to attach his other items, the mask would have to be carried in hand until he could find a bag for it. Link noticed his ocarina on the ground behind him, and made a note to not forget to grab it on his way out.

"Now...," the salesman began, causing Link to turn around, allowing the hand holding the mask to fall back down to his side, "... I have fulfilled my promise to you. So, please, give me that which you promised me." Link's face suddenly flushed bright red when he realized that it had, in fact, been a deal that had been made; the imp's mask for his body back. He'd completely forgotten about the deal in general; Tatl had been the only reason he'd remembered to come back under the clock tower.

Link looked up at the salesman. "Uh...," he stammered, looking at the fairy for support. Tatl was gravely silent.

"Don't tell me," he said, the smile, wide across his face, beginning to falter. "My mask..." His smile was already completely gone, and the squint in his eyes faded as they began to open in fear. "You did... get it back... Didn't you?"

The sound of the water turning the wooden wheels was the only thing that answered him, and the shock on his face quickly melted away into anger. He screamed, a horrible, terrible noise of anguish, reaching out for Link; the child dressed in Kokiri clothing backed away, forgetting for a minute that he now had his sword. However, backing away had caused the scabbard to bounce off off of his back and remind him it was there, and he almost reached it, but was instead lifted off of his feet by the mask salesman, who began to shake him furiously in the air.

"Hey!" Tatl shouted, but she backed off as soon as she saw the pure hatred and anger in his eyes, Link shaken into confusion several feet off of the ground.

"What have you done to me!" the mask salesman exclaimed, still shaking him furiously.

"I... did... n't... re... mem... ber... I... just..." Link attempted to speak over the shaking, but found it rather difficult to get more than one syllable out at a time. However, the salesman abruptly let him go, and Link fell to the floor on his bottom, quickly scrambling back to his feet and backing away to return to the side of Tatl.

"If you leave my mask out there, something terrible will happen!" the salesman exclaimed, hands on both sides of his head as he rocked back and forth on his heels and shook his head. He calmed down though, taking in a deep breath as he turned to look at the boy that had cheated him.

"I didn't mean... I was dying," Link answered, hoping this would suffice.

Apparently it didn't; the salesman continued to look at him gravely. "That mask that was stolen from me... it is called Majora's Mask," he began, Link relaxing when he realized he wasn't any longer threatened by another outbreak of anger. He instantly pictured the heart-shaped mask in his hand... and the terrible eyes it had.

"It is an accursed item from legend that is said to have been used in an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals. It is said that an evil and wicked power is bestowed upon the one who wears that mask." Link vividly recalled the spells that the Skull Kid had used to call the moon down quicker... in the same way he had cursed him into inhabiting the body of a Deku Scrub and killed Tael. "According to legend... the troubles caused by Majora's Mask were so great... the ancient ones, fearing such catastrophe, sealed the mask in shadow forever, preventing its misuse. But now, that tribe from the legend has vanished, so no one really knows the true nature of the mask's power."

When the salesman was done speaking, the rushing water, forever cascading up and down, played in the background of everyone's thoughts. Link had known it was the mask all along, somehow, and had already seen enough of its devastating to power to know that it was being misused, as the ancient ones had feared. "... But I feel it," the salesman began again, understanding Link's thoughts, the smile still absent. He looked up at the roof, as if pleading with the gods, "I went to great lengths to get that legendary mask! When I finally had it... I could sense the doom of a dark omen brewing. It was that unwelcome feeling that makes your hair stand on end. And now... that imp has it." Link had been looking away, deep in thought, but was shocked into looking at the salesman again when he began to grab his head and sway madly again. "I am begging you! You must get that mask back quickly or something terrible will happen! I'm begging you! I'm begging you! You must do it!"

The salesman then stopped, eagerly awaiting Link to answer him. "I...," he began, but the salesman smiled instantly returned and he interrupted him.

"Really? You'll do it for me?"

"I never said..."

"I was certain you would tell me that."

"But I don't..."

"You'll be fine! Surely, you can do it."

"_I don't know what I'm supposed to do!_" Link suddenly yelled back at the salesman, who stopped interrupting and listened, though was already smiling again with squinted eyes. "I've already... been to the top of the tower to face him... and I lost! I fell off of the tower and almost died, until you healed me. All I have is my sword, and that's not anywhere close to what I need to stop the moon! Have you been outside lately? It's huge! There's nothing one person like me can do to stop it." The boy breathed in and out heavily at this, waiting for the salesman to say something.

Finally... he did. "So... what else, then? Are you going to go back to Hyrule and let all of those people die? Are you going to let your dear friend's brother die... your horse... Anju?" He remained looking down at the shocked Link, waiting for an answer.

"... How do you...?"

"It doesn't matter. What I _do_ know is that you can't leave this place before you've chosen between the light and the dark; you have to face the Skull Kid, Link. You can't leave before you've done that."

"... Light and dark?" Link inquired, confused. "What are you talking about? How do you know so much about me? Where did you come from?"

The mask salesman only laughed lightly at this. "You're wasting your time talking to me, Link; you must go out and stop him before it's too late."

"_But I don't know how!_" Link yelled once again, angry at the way in which he was constantly avoiding in answering anything directly.

"Come on, Link," Tatl finally said to Link, gesturing him towards the door. "Let's just go." Link then stumbled away from the salesman upon Tatl egging him to leave, and then he backed away slowly, the mask salesman still looking at him and smiling. Link only turned around when he'd reached his ocarina, bending down and slipping it into the pouch on his belt; he went up to the staircase and stopped at the doorway, pausing before returning to Clock Town.

"Believe in your strengths...," the mask salesman encouraged him from behind. "Believe..."

* * *

"That mask...," Tatl started as they stepped out of the darkness of the tower once again into the bright sunlight; this time, Link was able to enjoy its warmth while at his homeostasis. He was no longer a Deku Scrub, he was no longer dying; he was himself again. His only regret was that the Tatl he'd started out his adventure with, the one who had been loyal to him even in death, had never been able to see this accomplishment. Link turned his green hatted head to the fairy beside him, his new companion. "The Skull Kid uses the power of that mask to do these terrible things. Well... whatever it takes, we've gotta do something about it."

"And what would you suggest?" Link asked, the carpenters looking up from their work and wondering where the Deku Scrub had gone.

"Um...," Tatl began, trailing off as she began to look around, as if for an answer. "Ooh! The Great Fairy will be able to help us; she's just in North Clock Town. And... just between you and me... the Skull Kid is no match for the Great Fairy."

"You've already said that," Link pointed out, taking a few steps away from the clock tower and into the town square, the fairy following, "word for word."

"Well," Tatl scoffed, "what would... uh... past me have done?"

Link, preoccupied with whatever it was that was on his mind, sighed. "I'm not sure; she died."

"Well, I know that, De-... Hm... I guess I can't call you Deku boy anymore, can I?"

"No, you can't," Link said flatly, holding up the Deku Scrub mask to further prove his point.

"So...," Tatl began, choosing to ignore the tone he'd used,"...seriously... what do we do now? I'm guessing I'm kind of stuck with you, until we find a way to stop Majora's Mask from killing everybody?"

"Yes, that's what it looks like," Link commented, deep in thought as they continued up the staircase into East Clock Town.

"Are you okay, Link?" Tatl asked. "I thought you might be a little happy, you know, now that you're not a Deku Scrub anymore."

"Yeah, I just...," Link trailed off though, continuing his pace regardless of his hesitancy in speech.

"Just what?" asked the fairy curiously, Link not answering her question. "Where are we going, anyways?" Link stopped walking when she said this, realizing he'd subconsciously been venturing to the Stock Pot Inn, now half-way through the East Clock Town plaza. Tatl seemed to follow his gaze and understand. "You realize she won't remember you, right? There'd be no reason she would help you now."

"I know," Link merely said, continuing to the hotel regardless. The fairy scoffed, but followed.

The green-hatted boy and his fairy stepped into the lobby of the hotel to see Anju behind the desk, looking down at several papers spread out across her desk when she looked up to see the visitors. She was, once again, wearing that same outfit, the one she'd always worn on the first day. Her short, pretty red hair was neatly done, and she looked up with a forced smile on her face.

"Hello, welcome to the Stock Pot Inn," she greeted, waiting for them to come up closer to her desk before continuing. The two, however, just stood there, Tatl, as if not having fully understood what it was like to go back in time until now, Link... once again noting the familiarity. The first time he'd seen her, he hadn't known how to talk, and therefore hadn't pressed the matter; when he had learned how to talk, he'd completely forgotten about it, but was now reminded again, given it was another "first" meeting.

"Um...," Link began, after Anju began to express confusion at the two standing there; he took a few steps closer to the desk. She looked concerned now at the blonde boy, wondering what it was he was hesitant to say. Link, gathering words, couldn't help but stare at her in an attempt to figure out how it was he remember her. "Have you ever been to Hyrule?"

"Hy-rule?" Anju stammered in confusion, Tatl also expressing this as well. "I don't believe I've ever heard of it."

"You've... never heard of Hyrule?" He was flabbergasted, not understanding how it was this was possible; true, it had already been established that Tatl knew nothing of it... but another human? "You've never heard about the largest kingdom in the world, center of practically all global power?" Anju merely shook her head slowly. "Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, the king? His daughter, Princess Zelda?"

"Where is this place?" Anju asked after a moments thought.

"It's, well..." Link stopped when he realized he wasn't sure where Hyrule was from Clock Tower. "I, came from underground underneath the clock tower, so I'm not sure what direction it's in."

"So Hyrule is an underground city?"

"No!" Link exclaimed, now slightly angry, Anju taken back. "It's... where is here, anyways? How come no one here has heard of anything?"

"We're in Termina," Anju answered. "I'm not sure what else to say about it."

"Has no one ever left? Do people not come and go from here regularly?"

"Well, from other corners of Termina," Anju added thoughtfully, Link sighing. "But please, sir, I'm not sure what this has to do with anything; do you have a reservation, or is the only reason you came here to ask me about... _Hyrule_."

Link sighed again, "Yes, sorry about that; I do have a reservation."

"Alright then," Anju said, taking a notebook and rolling her eyes slightly. "Name please?"

"Link."

"Link... I don't have a Link in here..."

"Oh, sorry, I meant to say Ink," Link quickly corrected himself, Tatl looking down at him questioningly. "Mr. Ink."

Anju threw him a skeptical look, but continued nonetheless, "Well, uh, Mr. Ink... I have you down for an afternoon arrival, but I can guess you can check in a few hours early. Your room is our "Knife Chamber" on the second floor. Here is your key." She handed to him and then Link nodded and turned away.

"Thank you." He then began walking up the staircase to the hotel room, the fairy flying close to him to talk lowly.

"What was all that about? And did you just steal someone's reservation?"

"Yep," Link answered. "We... or me and... or, well, you know... the first time around, I accidentally stole someones. I don't see the harm in doing it twice."

"You're making someone sleep out on the streets!" she exclaimed softly. "It's terrible."

"It's for a greater cause, right?" Link asked as they reached the second floor.

"Yeah... I... I guess so."

* * *

"_Tatl! Look out, you-!_" Tatl turned around, but that was all she was able to do in the given time slot. Link watched in horror as the high pressure strain of the wooden wheel, being wedged into the platform and hitting the ground at the same time, caused it to violently scatter into millions of pieces, and they showed no mercy. Tatl was instantly bombarded with bullet-like shards, now no longer in Link's view as he curled into a ball to protect his face.

... And there they were, underneath it all, Link shaking madly as he tried to fight back any tears or whimpers, weak beyond belief, Tatl in his hand, dying just as he was, some unseen injury from within the ball of light. "_Thank you for not leaving me,_" Link struggled to say down into his hand.

"No... prob... lem, Deku head."

Link, after a moment's consideration, looked up at Navi with a troubled, concerned face, the two of them in the Temple of the Time, the Master Sword finally in its resting place. "... So I'll never see you again?" Navi only continued to float there. "You're going to get someone else to be yours, aren't you?" Navi still didn't say anything. "Can't we just have one more day... to celebrate?"

"I think that would just make it harder for me to leave," explained Navi. "This isn't easy; I love you, like a mother loves a child, but it has to be done."

Link, once again defeated, only stood there.

"I... didn't expect you to forgive me, Link," Tatl finally said, turning around to face him at last in the darkness of the sewer system maze. "Thank _you_ for not throwing your glass of water at me as soon as you saw me; I deserved it, after what I said to you back in the hotel room. I thought... I thought that I could do it on my own; I just wanted my brother back, and I didn't realize how indebted I was to you, after what all happened when the Skull Kid robbed you. But now I know; I want to make sure you get your body, ocarina, and horse back just as badly. It's my fault you're in this mess, and I'm not stopping until we get out of it together."

"_Thanks Tatl,_" Link said. "_But you don't have to explain_." Zelda had almost said the same exact thing to him.

* * *

Link awoke from his light sleep in the darkness of the hotel room. He did so silently, the images of the past fading almost instantly. Link laid there for a moment, quietly pondering everything; the dreams of Navi had not gone away. If anything, they were stronger; but _why_? He had already come to terms with his new fairy companion, whom was sleeping on the pillow of the bed opposite his. She was there; the first Tatl had told him he was a useless weakling and had left, this very night. Navi had even left him, but this fairy hadn't. _But this fairy isn't Navi or Tatl... is it? _This statement from his mind shocked him; of course this fairy was Tatl. _Tatl died, Link._ No! She hadn't, had she?

Link nervously situated himself in his bed; he thought that, after he had recovered his ocarina and his body, everything would be fine, but it wasn't. Epona was one factor to consider, but now this new land, Termina, as Anju had called it, seemed to be an even greater calling for him. If he left on his horse, would he be able to live with himself, knowing that he'd doomed Termina into being a wasteland of death and emptiness? Would the power of Majora's Mask, afterwards, even spread passed Termina, into Hyrule's fields of prosperity?

Regardless, it was an impossibility; at first, he'd thought that returning to his body would have been enough. Now he wasn't so sure; how could he compete, with a mask of such darkness? It had been able to kill Tael at the flick of its arm; it had cursed him to inhabit the body of a Deku Scrub; it had summoned the moon itself from the realms of space to crash face first into Clock Town. Had there been any power yet that had shown worthy in competing with such magic?

Link turned in his bed to see the ocarina sitting on the bedside table; it had proven itself. The ocarina's notes had lifted the curse on him. True, it had been the Song of Healing that had done the job, but he didn't think any average instrument could have used the notes to accomplish such a feat. That was the key, the ocarina.

But was he ready to face the Skull Kid again with it? Had he yet to learn the right songs to defeat him? He was in no way ready to confront the moon on the top of the tower again; that would have to wait.

_But he killed Tatl._

No; Tatl was across the room from him, asleep.

And then, Link, soon after, had returned to sleep. However, no matter how many times he reassured himself that his new fairy was just as loyal and good as any other, the dreams still tormented him.

* * *

Unrepliable reviews:

(just now realized it hasn't been taking my (at) symbols... haha)

At, Unnamed from Chapter 7: I never intended, from the beginning, to just do a transcript verbatim of what happened in the video game. I'm doing my interpretation of the plot, and adding several other elements to further explain what it is I think Termina was all about. But, yes, I did that for several reasons, number one being this "Navi/Tatl" subplot, and two being that I wanted to establish that death is death, in this story. One of my pet peeves in writing is unnecessary resurrection of previously dead characters; this "new" Tatl is not a resurrection of the old one, but her as she was before the time cycle began that, in effect, killed her.

And thank you for your compliments; it's nice to know that, even though I have a long way to go, the effects I intended my writing to have actually were executed with some amount of decency.

As for Link not blowing into the ocarina, even if he had, I don't think he would have actually realized it could have saved them, and wouldn't have known to play the Song of Time. They only reason he did in the plaza, was because he thought himself dead, and wanted to reminisce in memories of Hyrule before he died in this unknown land; it was pure chance that he happened to play that song. This Anju thing, however, I noticed myself; I was hoping it wasn't too off or out of character for her, but I guess it could be because she is so distraught over Kafei, not too aware of what it is happening other than the fact that the Deku Scrub seems to know something about him that she doesn't.

And thank you, once again; I hope that this chapter was satisfactory. It's slower paced than the next, a set-up for part two, which is already finished and will be posted tomorrow, if all goes according to plan.


	9. The Black Mark, Part 2

Note: Well... I couldn't wait to post this tomorrow, mainly because I won't have Internet tomorrow, for the next several days, most likely. So, instead of waiting another half a week, when I already have it done, why not just post it right now? Anyways, this is a direct continuation of part 1, on the second day of the same three day cycle. Once you get to the end of this, why it's named "The Black Mark" should make a little bit more sense.

* * *

_Chapter 9: The Black Mark, Part 2_

The sky was gray and the clouds were rumbling ominously above, as rain fell from them down upon the Laundry Pool. Anju sat at the bench, looking sadly down at the ground, her umbrella over her head. A single tear trickled down her eye as she stared at the ground, alone in the isolated corner of Clock Town.

At least, she was alone until Link came around the thin passageway the city walls made. He paused when he saw Anju at the bench, and glanced over at the waterway's surface exploding with rain drops. His green hat was situated over his head, much more comfortable and proportional to himself now that he were human; his shield and sword, however, had been left behind in the hotel room. And so, the blonde-haired youth walked down towards the young woman, Anju's eyes going back to the ground as he approached her.

"Are you okay?" Link asked, sounding worried, as he came to a stop just in front of her.

"I'm fine," Anju lied softly as Link sat down on the other side of the bench. There was silence for a moment, but she quickly interrupted it, obviously trying to avoid discussing any about herself. "Are you okay? Why did _you_ come here?"

"I...," Link began, not quite sure how to answer. "I was looking for you. I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday; I didn't mean to get angry. It's just weird, me stumbling upon this place, and no one knowing about where I've come from."

"Well... why did you come here... to Termina?" she asked thoughtfully, pushing her own troubles temporarily out of sight.

Link's brow furrowed in thought, as he tried to remember the answer to this question. "To find Navi," Link said aloud accidentally, surprised at having forgotten for a moment.

"Who's Navi?"

Link was shocked, having not realized he'd spoken this thought aloud, but he soon thought of what to say. "Someone that left me; I've been looking for her for quite a while now. I... don't really even know why she left me; I have to find her to find out."

"Oh," Anju spoke softly; this had been the first time Link had told anyone this, just now realizing he'd never told Tatl... she'd never asked what his errand had been when they'd robbed him. "I'm looking for someone too... for the same reasons."

Link looked over at her in realization that this was true; he remembered the letter he'd read, and everything that Anju had said on their first encounter at the Laundry Pool. "Well... maybe we could look together."

Anju smiled over at him at this, but then glanced up at the moon. It was still there, still in the sky baring down on everyone. "Maybe, after this whole ordeal with the moon passes over. We're supposed to take shelter tomorrow in the ranch just outside of town; if you don't have anywhere else to go, we'd be happy to let you stay with us."

Link returned her smile. "I would... but I have to do other things that day."

"Oh, okay; if you change your mind, just let me know."

"Don't worry, I'll leave before it's too late..."

"_Link!_" Tatl suddenly flew from the pathway Link had just moments ago, holding a large, shoulder-strapped bag by the strap. The fairy flew over to Link, who got up off of the bench. "It's perfect, for the rupees and the mask, and whatever else we end up having to carry around! The rest of the money is in there too."

"Thanks Tatl," Link said happily, taking the bag from her, and putting the strap around his neck so that it hung by his right side. He remembered how, when he'd once again stolen the reservation, the silver rupee had once again been in the drawers. "Well, we have to go; I hope you find whoever it is you're looking for."

"And I hope you find Navi," Anju said, smiling lightly. Link smiled back again, walking away, his brown boots splashing in a pool of water that had collected on the ground. The white fairy lingered for a moment, looking in confusion at Anju before turning and following by Link's side, his new bag over his shoulders.

"Who's Navi?" she asked.

"Uh...," Link stammered, as they reached the pathway leading back into South Clock Town and left Anju behind. "She's... a fairy, the one that followed me around in Hyrule... before I came here."

"Hm," Tatl breathed skeptically. "So this whole fairy thing is something you do often?"

"No," Link said abruptly. "Where I come from, where I was raised, it was customary for each child to have a fairy, once they became of age for one. It became your guardian fairy, for life; Navi just happened to be mine."

"What happened to her?" Tatl asked. "She didn't die too, did she?"

_Too_, Link noted she had said. He glared at Tatl hatefully at this statement, the two of them finally on the staircase that lead down into the plaza where the wooden tower was being built busily by the carpenters. They stopped here, to finish their conversation, the rain beginning to lighten. "I'm... sorry," Tatl said apologetically. "I'm not sure why I said that."

"No, it's okay," Link said, sighing. "She left me, after we had saved Hyrule. I... have to find her, and understand why."

"So... is that what you were doing when we... robbed you in the forest? You were looking for Navi?"

"Yes," Link answered, nodding his head. There was a moment of silence between the two, the hammering away of the carpenters behind them.

"Well... once this small ordeal.. you know, the dark, evil mask from the depths of hell summoning the giant moon into the Earth... blows over, I'd be happy to help you find her." Link had not expected this response from her, and Tatl seemed disappointed at the expression of confusion that had followed this request of hers. "Are you okay... Link?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, snapping out of the trance he'd sent himself into. "Come on, Ta-... Er, come on, so we can try out this new bag."

"Oh... okay, Link." She followed timidly, not sure why Link had avoided using her name.

* * *

_Ding!_

Link stared in front of the clock tower, neck craned back as it had been as a Deku Scrub, taking in the full height of the tower. The torches surrounding South Clock Town were all lit, illuminating the boy and fairy, and then Mutoh was just behind them, in front of the wooden structure that had been completed. The moon was just as close as it had been before on the final night, at midnight; it was six hours from impact, its eyes threateningly taking everything in.

And then, the loud, sharp pitch of the town bell cut through the night, loud explosions, popping brightly and brilliantly around the clock tower: fire works. Greens, reds, and other dazzling colors. They exploded jubilantly... but the ecstatic cheers of the people were absent, gone. The fireworks went off, but there was no cause of celebration; only death.

The large black ball on the top of the clock tower, the one that rotated with the large beam of light cutting through the night, slowly began to rise into the air, going higher on a very thick wooden beam that was extending from the roof of the tower. It grew taller, and Link looked up, hatred and revenge spread across his face. The fireworks were in the background, the large wooden wheels on the side rising with the ball of the clock tower, into the sky.

Then, when it grew too high, it began to totter, as if it would snap off and crash to the ground, a small earth quake starting at the same time. The earth quake ended, dangerously teetering the extended clock tower, and then it fell over, coming down and swinging around so that the large wooden clock face was going to face the sky. It stopped when it was exactly parallel, the ball that had once been the searchlight now parallel to the ground, sticking out of the back of the tower, the massive wheel of time now the roof.

The platform above the set of doors they'd come through now lead to a door way that had been uncovered when the clock face had moved. This door slid down into the ground after all of this occurred, the fireworks still going off, the audience still gone. Another door was behind this one, but slightly higher, sliding down so that it stopped just above where the last one hand, revealing yet another door after that one. The precession of doors continued onward, until each, slightly higher than the last, made a staircase that cut through the tower upward steeply, leading to the new roof of the clock tower once suspended in the enclosed hallways of darkness for a moment, the roof open to the sky, directly underneath the moon.

Then the fireworks stopped, the last fizzles of light disappearing before they reached the ground, and Link and Tatl were now standing in front of the open clock tower... on the night of the final day, six hours before death would come to all.

"...Link," Tatl began nervously, fear beginning to finally settle in, the death that was coming so close she could feel it all around her, "can we please play the Song of Time now?"

His sword and shield were clad across his back now, the bag with the rupees and mask around his shoulders, and his ocarina on his belt. "No," he said flatly. "We're going to the top."

"But... _why?_" Tatl exclaimed, turning to face him, away from staring at the clock tower in awe. "It's the end of the world, Link! Have you already forgotten what happened last time you went up there? I died, and you came back half-dead yourself; nothing's changed!"

"I'm not cursed now," Link explained gravely, still not taking his eyes away from the top of the tower. "And I understand what it is my ocarina is capable of now."

"Yeah, it's capable of taking us back in time so we don't get our faces squashed by that rock again!"

"No, it healed me, and it destroyed his curse on me."

"But the Skull Kid isn't a Deku Scrub, Link, and why would we want to heal him anyways?"

"That's not what I mean; can't you just trust me? I know what I'm doing; I wouldn't risk death again." Link looked at Tatl pleadingly, realizing he'd promised almost the same thing to the first Tatl, and now she was dead.

"Oh... Okay Link. I'll trust you; just promise me we'll leave before anything too bad happens."

"I promise."

* * *

Link stepped onto the wooden surface of the clock's face. It was massive, the stage just as large as it had last been, when he had thought this was the final act. The rims of the clock face were still taller than him though he were human, making the same circular wall. The sky was once more red, yet still dark, ominously veiling everything under its glow.

The rock was directly above Link, possibly not even five hundred feet above his head. And there was the Skull Kid... floating several feet in the air just above the surface of the clock face, not looking at them, but in the opposite directly, deep in though as he peered down from the top of his nest.

Then, as Tatl settled just beside Link, the Skull Kid turned around, his face still hidden behind the mask that pierced through his very soul. He turned, having fully known they were behind him when he'd been facing the other direction.

The orange eyes of the purple mask bore down on them threatening, the moon above his head plenty of intimidation, had that not been enough. He remained floating in leisure, the end of the world above him, as Link stared at him threateningly.

The Skull Kid didn't say anything, but merely stared down at them, waiting for them to say something first, wondering what they could possibly be planning on doing, having ventured up here all heroic-like. He wanted them to speak first, wanted them to make fools of themselves before he even had to open his mouth, for what _could_ they possibly have to say or do? They would die; he had complete control over the situation, and he would crush them.

"Sis!" The purple fairy flew to reveal himself from behind the Skull Kid, having just noticed his sister.

"Tael!" Tatl exclaimed from beside Link, an extreme sense of deja vu dawning over him. He was determined, however to make sure things did not go the same way they had last time. "We've been looking for you two," Tatl added, wondering if pretending not to know the full extent of the situation would actually get them anywhere in negotiations. The Skull Kid still stared down at the two newcomers, not lightening up in response to Tatl's mildly friendly statement. The white fairy then began to speak to the imp, as if talking to someone she knew, hoping beyond hope that it could be solved as simply as that, that he had not been too far corrupted to no longer listen to reason... that it wasn't really the end of the world. He could realize what he was doing, and listen to his old friend; everything could go back to the way it had been. "Hey, Skull Kid, what if you gave that mask you're wearing back now?" The Skull Kid didn't respond, and the fairy's small burst of hope began to die away as quickly as it had appeared. "Hey... c'mon... are you... listening?"

Tael suddenly flew from beside the Skull Kid, going out of the imp's reach and hastily trying to blurt out as much as he could, taking everyone except Link by complete surprise; Link remembered hearing these words before, but just now understood them for what they were this second time. It was a warning... a way Tael had found to defeat the Skull Kid, perhaps. "Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon. Hurry... the four who are there... Bring them here!" Tael meant to say more, but the Skull Kid quickly flew out to him and slammed him into submission with the back of his hand, causing Tael to gasp in pain as he was put back behind the Skull Kid forcefully.

"_**Don't speak out of line! Stupid fairy!**_" His voice was deep, powerful, commanding, coming directly from the mask, filling the air threateningly. The town bell tolled below, back on the ground, in celebration of the carnival that had finally arrived.

"_No... you don't speak out of line!_" Link suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs, interrupting Tatl, who had been about to blurt out a retaliation of her own. The process of things that had been repeating themselves abruptly stopped, everyone there feeling this odd sensation except Link, who had already experienced this moment before; it was the feeling that things weren't going the way they were supposed to, unnerving in many ways.

"What... did you just say to me?" the Skull Kid said darkly and threateningly, his eyes narrowing from behind the mask of darkness.

"_You killed her!_" Link shouted again, Tatl turning to face him sadly, Tael watching from behind the Skull Kid, scared for his life. The Skull Kid merely watched, slightly amused. "_Bring her back! You sent the moon straight into the tower and killed her; not even my ocarina could save her! You bring her back! Bring her back right now! It's your fault she's dead! You killed Navi!_" Link hadn't even realized what he'd said as he drew his sword from his scabbard and slashed it in front of himself; he had come clean, all of his feelings laid out on the surface of the tower. The loss of Tatl had been the loss of his guardian fairy all over again. The Skull Kid merely looked confused, not understanding what he meant by this. He had no idea what this child was talking about.

"_Is that it?_" Tatl suddenly exclaimed from beside Link; he turned his head away from the Skull Kid as she said this, not having expected an outburst from her at all. "Is that why you can't call me by my name anymore..., because I'm not good enough to be your precious Navi or my previous self? No, Link... you can't do that to me! I've been here beside you the entire time; I may not be Navi... but I'm still Tatl! You haven't lost her, I'm still here!"

"_You don't get it, fairy,_" Link stammered, tears pooling in his eyes, blinded by anger and grief. "_She did die! That Skull Kid killed her, and I'm never going to get her back! I played the Song of Time and left her body behind!_" He pulled the ocarina out of the pouch of his belt, as if to clarify even further what he meant.

"_I'm right here!_" Tatl exclaimed again. "_I don't know what you want me to do, Link. We're the same person; there's absolutely nothing different between the two of us! Yeah... one of us died, but I __AM her!_"

The Skull Kid watched with steadily growing confusion, as Tael was too blindly by fear and hope of escape to truly pay attention to what Tatl and Link were talking about. The masked imp began to think about one statement they had made in particular. ..._not even my ocarina could save her_... The Skull Kid looked down at this left hand, and it was empty... and he felt it shouldn't be. His brain strained to think of something very important, but some unknown thing was blocking his brain from making the connection. The Skull Kid looked down at the two arguing intently... and then his eyes caught something as Link pulled it out to yell back at Tatl: a blue clay instrument, having been resting previously in a small pocket on his belt.

And then... the connection was made, and the floodgate broke, memories rushing back to him. His eyes widened with shock as he gasped. He was supposed to have the ocarina right now; Link, as a Deku Scrub, had hit him with a bubble and knocked it out of his hand. He'd struck out at Tael upon removing the goo angrily, killing her. He'd summoned the moon to crash into the tower quicker. Tatl and Link had fallen with the tower, the Deku Scrub with the ocarina in hand, and then they'd landed in the plaza, surely dead. But they hadn't died... or had they? _You killed her! You bring her back!_ The _fairy_ had died... and somehow the ocarina had saved him and... now another Tatl was now by his side... another Tatl... _I played the Song of Time and left her body behind!_ Now he fully understand; the ocarina had a power he had known not. It had brought Link back in time, giving him a second chance, and he had appeared at the top of the tower on the dawn of the first day, as if nothing had happened. He had been tricked, and fooled; the boy had been traveling back in time repeatedly until he had found a way to make things go the way he wanted

"_No! You can never be!_" Link exclaimed angrily, unable to accept anything.

"_Link, I'm here, no matter what, and I always will be! I can be what Tatl and Navi were to you if you can just give me a chance!_" Link merely continued crying harder, whimpering now as he looked at the fairy. Tatl, however, stopped looking at Link when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. The fairy looked up and to her side... to the Skull Kid, moving, swishing his arms around in a peculiar manner, as if preparing to do something. He was still floating in the air away from them... but he was moving his arms... and some sort of purple energy began to sizzle around him. He brought his arm back, as if he was going to thrust it out at something and direct the energy to a certain spot. He was looking intently at Link.

Tatl gasped in realization and turned immediately to her companion still looking at her with watering eyes, sword and ocarina in each hand. "_Link! The Skull Kid!_" Link's face calmed and furrowed in confusion, still looking at the fairy who had begun to fly towards him, until he heard something off to his side. He turned to look up at the Skull Kid far too late, and his eyes widened with shock when he noticed that a bolt of purple energy had just begun to travel through the air, coming towards him form the Skull Kid's finger tips.

There was no time to react, or to think, in the presence of such a deadly, precise, and instantaneous attack; in his mind, in his state of fear and surprise, two possibilities instantly presented themselves, the purple brilliance of the magic reflected in his wide eyes as it cut through the air mercilessly. Tatl had been flying to be directly in front of him, in an attempt to take the burst of lightning herself, in order to spare Link, the one hope for Termina's survival. There was no time for him to take out his shield, and turning to move out of the way was an impossibility. He could either allow Tatl to die for him again, or he could...

Link took a step forward and knocked Tatl away from the path of the lightning strike with the back of his hand, the one holding the ocarina. The bolt of dark magic was there immediately after; it traveled straight through the instrument and went further to strike him directly in the chest, lifting him off of his feet and sending him backwards across the surface of the clock face, the sword spiraling out of his hand. His eyes were shocked zeros when the high-concentration of purple energy burnt into him, with such a powerful, exact force that sent jolts of electricity running through his body, from the point at which he had been struck. He glided backwards, hanging in the air for only a moment in suspension, before physics pulled back him into the circular wall, Link with no longer any strength or stamina in the critical condition with which he now found himself.

Tatl was still flying back from the impact of Link's hand when the green-hatted boy was now slumped up against the circular wall of the clock face, a large, open scorch mark on his chest that had burnt directly through his clothing. He slid to the side off of the wall, unable to support himself, and landed on his side, curling up into a ball of pain, moaning as the jolting effects of the attack began to give their last shocks. Link struggled to lift his head and open his eyes as he cringed in pain, and, facing to the side, he saw the ocarina several feet away from him, a large black mark burnt into its surface from the Skull Kid's strike. He'd come here thinking it had been the key to defeating the Skull Kid, and now, there it was, obviously he and the instrument having been put in their place.

"_LINK!_" Tatl screeched when she fully understood what had happened. She flew over to his side quickly, the Skull Kid's expression from far above beginning to express mad joy at what he had just done. At first he remained angry and intent on the situation, his mood not relaxing until his gaze found the burnt ocarina just beside Link.

"_**I've destroyed it!**_" the Skull Kid proclaimed ferociously, the voice belonging to the evil forces of the mask once again. "_**No magic is superior to my own; my power is absolute! I am the supreme deity of this land; you will all fall to my omnipotence!**_" Then the Skull Kid, cackling madly, threw his arms into the air and screamed, a horrible, animal-like screech that pierced the sky as waves of light flew from the Skull Kid's arms. They cascaded up above into the sky, rippling over the surface of the already close moon and trapping Tael within its waves of magic. The magic power continued to flow from his arms to the moon... and... it began to shake... the moon, the ground, the clock tower, everything, as the moon began to plummet down to the ground faster than it ever had before. The large face was rapidly approaching; the time they had left before they were all flattened had reduced to minutes. The Skull Kid continued to shake as he summoned the moon to come closer to him. "_**This world will end in fire!**_"

Link hardly noticed; he lay on the ground shivering, still huddled into his fettle position, his eyes squeezed shut in weakening agony as he clutched his fatal wound.

"_Why did you do that?_" Tatl whispered urgently once she had reached his side, looking up nervously at what was happening with the Skull Kid, and then turning back to Link. "_Now no one can go back in time and stop him; if I had died, there would have been another one of me waiting for you!_"

Link blinked dazedly when she said this, his eyes not necessarily looking at anything, his vision blurred, the pain that had plagued him beginning to subside as the last of his body's strength began to wane. He struggled to speak, but did, finding it crucial to do so and battle the dryness in his mouth. "... _But then it wouldn't have been you,_" Link said weakly, and then began taking in more harsh, shuttering breaths, his lungs rasping with the effort. Tatl could not think of a response to this, looking down sadly at her dying master.

The Skull Kid laughed madly at what he was doing then, as he stopped sending the waves from engulfing the moon and turned once again to face his victims. "Humans are so weak," he proclaimed as his laughter died away, the powerful, wicked voice of the mask no longer there, as his emotional peak began to decline. Though his voice was in no way softer; Link and Tatl heard him loud and clear, the boy on the floor up against the wall and the fairy just beside him. The Skull Kid began to float down towards the center of the stage, Tael nervously and shakily following him from behind, the lights that trapped him now gone. "Your emotional attachments cause you to toss what little fragility you have aside; it wasn't even your emotional attachment to _her_ that caused you to do it, was it? You see your old fairy in her, and that's what made you do it. You died for something that was already dead." The Skull Kid's feet then stopped descending just before they touched the ground, as the moon roared above them, shaking the clock tower back and forth slightly and ominously.

"... _Navi's not dead..._," Link stammered, looking up at the imp across from the tower from him; only Tatl had been able to hear him.

"... Link," Tatl whispered, fearful. "It's happening again, isn't it? This is what happened before?"

Link nodded. "_I didn't mean to break my promise again_." He twitched sharply again, a sharp sting of pain having taken a hold of him for a moment. He continued to clutch the wound in vain, his fingers delicately touching the surface of the sensitive, scared skin. The scorch mark was very large, red in the center where he had been sharply burnt and punctured, and black surrounding it, dead skin.

Tatl then, without adding anything else, floated down to Link, the two face to face under Majora's wrath. They stared at each other for a moment, Link struggling to hold his head up to remain facing her. "_Go_," he finally said, weakly and with very little breath, though not losing eye contact. "_Please; I don't want you to die again._"

"No," Tatl said softly, slightly taken back. "No, Link; I can't do that. If I left now, there would be nothing left for me to come back to."

Link's eyes then closed, and for a moment, the fairy feared the worst, but the boy drew in another great, troubled breath and let his head rest down on the floor. Tatl came down closer to him, away from his face and down towards his fallen hand lying flat on the wooden surface. "_Termina isn't all there is, Tatl_," Link added after a moment's silence, the ground shaking once again several hundred feet below. "_You can go, to other places; you could go to Hyrule, and tell them what happened._"

"Link, I already tried to jump in front of a lightning bolt for you; when are you going to get it through your head that I'm not leaving you?" He smiled faintly at this, and Link suddenly had the urge to escape and protect _this_ fairy. It had taken this experience for him to fully realize and appreciate Tatl, and he didn't want to lose her for another, a third one.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Link turned his body painfully to rest on its other side, facing away from the moon and Skull Kid, noticing his bag on the floor in between him and the wall at his feet; it had swung open and his rupees lay scattered, another item he did not recognize hanging half-way out. The ocarina was a couple of feet away from it, and seeing it, regret pained him. He could have played the Song of Time as she'd asked, rather than promising it would be okay and risking another encounter with the Skull Kid; this time, it was his fault entirely, and there was no way he could escape it. Last time, his ocarina had allowed him to escape into another body, but now there was no such solution... _Or was there?_

"Link... I think the tower's going to fall." Her sarcastic tone was gone, replaced by a new wave of fear when the slight rattling and swaying of the tower did not stop; the moon was not slowing. Link, however, attempted to sit up to pull his bag towards him, but he was unable to, and could not reach it from his current position on the ground.

"_Tatl... the mask..._"

The fairy quickly turned around to see what he was talking about, and when she saw him struggling to point to the bag, she understood.

The Skull Kid, meanwhile, watched them with interest, not being able to hear their quiet conversing, but smiling wickedly at them nonetheless, satisfied with the distress he had caused. The imp, after watching the boy toss back and forth as he died and the fairy remaining by his side, finally allowed his gaze to find the ocarina; he suddenly desired its possession, subconsciously to make sure it was destroyed, but at the surface merely wanting to take it back to the land it came from, to prove to them that their gods were nothing, when he planned to spread his destruction elsewhere. The Skull Kid began to float towards them, Tael nervously following. "What are you doing?" the purple fairy whispered. "You've already killed him; what more are you going to do to them?" The masked imp did not respond, continuing towards. "_Please_, Skull Kid, you promised; don't kill my sister."

Tatl quickly flew to the other side of Link and grabbed the strap of the bag, dragging to rest in front of Link and then letting it go, the green-hatted boy quickly took a hold of it himself and slid the wooden mask out of its depths, taking care not to move his swimming head. He held it in one hand, staring at it with interest and reverence. The glowing eyes did not move, looking up at him as they had from his reflection for his first three days in Clock Town; he realized now, that he had spent another three days here, this time as a human. He'd passed them quickly and fleetingly, unknowingly pulled to the top of the tower yet again by his anger at the Skull Kid for having killed Tatl. And now... here, according to the salesman, was locked away those memories, of him and the fairy that was as dead as the first Tael was. He continued to stare at the Deku Scrub mask, wondering if it contained the magic the salesman had claimed it did.

"Do you think-?" Tatl said, in a hushed, sharp voice.

He didn't know, but there was only one way to find out.

"Are you still alive?" The childish voice caused Link to freeze in fear, his back having been to the Skull Kid and moon, facing the wall and holding the mask in front of himself. It sounded as if the imp were just behind him, having approached silently. Tatl quickly turned around in surprise, suddenly face to face with Majora's Mask. "You should go, you know," he said, now directing his speech to Tatl, only feet from being right next to them. "I don't have anything against _you_, Tatl; merely the meddler who tried to stop me..." _with a power I don't understand_, he almost added, but stopped himself. "If you hand me the ocarina behind you, I'll let you fly away, you and your brother, and then you can leave this place with your lives... as if nothing happened." Tael jumped with excitement at this, but remained silent, Tatl staring gravely at the imp.

"...I...," Tatl stammered, turning around and looking down at the ocarina a little way away from her on the ground, the all-powerful mask of darkness demanding its possession behind her. Her surroundings began to shake more violently as the moon did not halt in its decent, progressing rapidly, turning back to face her old friend. Link didn't dare try to turn around as their conversation continued, his back still turned to the Skull Kid and the mask in his hands; he realized the present danger the fairy had suddenly found herself in, and took a deep breath before placing the mask over his face.

Tatl, not quite sure what to say, finally made a decision and found words, looking directly at the eyes of the mask. "I can't leave him, Skull Kid." The imp cocked his head to the side curiously as she continued, and Tael's hope began to fade. "Even when he was yelling at me for not being his past fairies, I felt... connected with him somehow, as if I'd already known him; I can't explain it, but I think there's some of those other fairies in me, even if they're all dead. I don't know how else to tell you why I tried to sacrifice myself for him, but... he proved to me that my trust wasn't misplaced when he knocked me back out of the way. Link is a better friend to me, and would be to Tael too, then you ever have or could be; you're an immature child with far too much power in your possession. So no... I won't pick up the ocarina for you; you can do it yourself."

The Skull Kid was silent for a moment, head still titled to the side, the same thing he always seemed to do before he next did another unthinkable act. The imp then backed away and began to do the same thing he had before, summoning energy in odd movements, as if he were preparing for yet another attack... except this time he had a new target. The white fairy gasped and began to back away towards Link. "_Wait!_" Tatl exclaimed, not having expected this sort of reaction, or perhaps she'd said more offensive things then she'd intended to; either way, yet another strike was inevitable, and Link was already lying on the floor dying from one. Tatl's attention was drawn away from the Skull Kid when she heard Link scream behind him; she whirled around and saw that he'd put the mask on.

As the wooden image of his cursed self slid over his face, it suddenly became _alive_. Though it did not have any strap to keep it attached to his face, Link found that it was doing that on its own, clinging to him as a parasite would its host, completely covering his face. He gasped for air as it restricted any breath from reaching his lungs, now clawing at this mask with his hands to get it off; he could not see, and his screams were muffled by the snout that covered his mouth. He twitched back and forth and kicked his legs as it continued to sink further and further into his face, as if destroying his human one, the orange eyes on the mask growing a life-like quality, becoming his own. As this face cemented over his own, his body began to change too. First his skeleton began to compact itself, as his skin bunched up to become loose and rippled, tightening itself into a wooden texture. His tunic became large for himself as his body shrank and his head grown, also gaining the sensation of being hollowed out as he lost weight. When it stopped, the entire process hardly lasting ten seconds, he felt dizzy and light-headed, overwhelmed and uncertain over what had just happened. Tatl merely stared in shock; disturbed entirely.

Link, in his state of confusion, heard the crackling of energy behind him, a very familiar sound. He instantly recognized what this was and jumped to his feet, a renewed sense of energy filling him now that it seemed the effects of his injury had gone; however, the weight of his shield brought him crashing back down onto his back, not able to carry its heavy metal weight on his back. "_Tatl!_" Link exclaimed, hearing the tone with which he now spoke, and realizing what it meant, but still not quite understanding. "_Quick!_"

The fairy obediently flew to his side as the Skull Kid followed her with his aim, releasing the crack of energy once more, it now aiming so as to intercept Tatl's flight path before she was able to dodge it. As these two things happened at once, Link also slipped his thin wooden arms out from the handles of the shield and hid behind it, holding it up in front of him as Tatl dived behind it. The purple waves of energy merely struck the shield, unable to penetrate it; the force of it pushed Link back up against wall, but he managed to stay standing and hold his protection in front of him, Tatl huddled against him as the purple waves rippled off of the surface of the shield.

When the dark magic ceased, Link opened his eyes, which had been squeezed, and was finally fully able to realize what had happened. He had turned into his Deku Scrub self, now no longer his dying human form. This time, however, his scabbard, shield, and tunic didn't disappear as they had when he'd been cursed; the green tunic now loosely fell down to the the floor, his scabbard no longer snuggly on his back, and the shoes over his feet far too large. His hat still fit over his blonde head, but it was just as abnormally large as it had before, almost touching the floor. It had been a complete transformation: the wooden textured skin, the orange eyes, the snout... everything, as if he'd never played the Song of Healing or fallen off of the tower on his first three day cycle. The large hole from the lightning strike was still burnt into his tunic, but the skin underneath was unharmed, dark brown, and intact.

The Skull Kid's mind instantly reeled with confusion at what had just happened; he'd prepared his attack to kill Tatl with Link on the floor, dying. When he'd fired it, suddenly Link had been standing up with his shield in front of him, the fairy able to hide behind it. He was blinded by fear for a moment, of that unknown power that had given him the ability to travel back in time and heal his evil magic, and turned to the ocarina and flew back several feet in retaliation... but it hadn't been the ocarina; it still sat there, with the black mark burnt into it.

Tatl remained huddled up against Link as they stood there in the aftermath, Link wondering if it was safe to let down his guard. Struggling with the weight of the shield, he lowered it slightly, and saw the Skull Kid much farther from them as he had been before, staring at them, with what expression Link knew not; the purple fairy had been left in the air where the imp had once been, obviously confused and not sure what to be doing. Quickly, the Deku Scrub dropped the shield and tossed off his scabbard into the same pile, running for his sword to the left of him. "_Grab the ocarina!"_ Link squeaked to Tatl as he went for his sword; the fairy took a moment to understand, and then flew back towards the scorched instrument.

The Skull Kid, still in shocked confusion as each ran in the opposite direction far down on the surface below, came to his senses when he realized what they were doing. "_No!_" he exclaimed, turning to the fairy first. He raised his arm to do some sort of attack on Tatl, Tael seeing this gesture immediately.

"_Sis! Look out!_" Tatl turned around just in time, and quickly flew from where the imp's attack had been directed, a small, blinding crack and explosion of light happening where she had just been. The fairy wearily looked up at the Skull Kid to see him preparing to do something else, but Tael flew into the Skull Kid and began flying into him repeatedly, beating him in the face constantly and stopping him from attacking his sister further. "_Don't touch my sister, Skull Kid!_"

The fairy looked worriedly at her brother, forgetting completely about the ocarina for the time being. "Tael; look out, he'll kill you! He's not himself!"

The Skull Kid, after several incessant, but useless, attacks from the fairy, backhanded him as he had before, sending Tael backwards into a vulnerable position. As he raised his hands for more unspeakable magic, however, he turned just in time see a green bubble fly directly into his face. The imp screeched angrily as he found himself covered completely in the thick, green sludge that had come from the Deku Scrub's mouth. Link was standing just where he had picked up his sword, having turned around and seen what was happening, intervening with the power the Great Fairy had given him. The Skull Kid stumbled backwards through the air, his arms raised in disgust as he attempted to fling the goop off of him.

Link then turned to travel the rest of the way back to his fairy, but that was when the entire structure of the clock tower began to lean in one direction; the same way it had last time. Link stumbled in that direction, almost losing his footing and falling over, afraid that the tower would not re-balance itself; it did, however, and Link feared that, if it happened again, it would completely topple over, mainly because he had been through this before.

"Tael!" Tatl exclaimed. "Quick, come over here before he gets that stuff off of him!" And so, Link and Tael both traveled as quickly as they could towards the white fairy next to the ocarina, Link running on his short legs making it difficult to travel great distances, and the purple fairy flying quickly down through the air from the preoccupied dark imp. Tatl, meanwhile, examined the ocarina on the ground beside her closely, being the first to have done so since it was attacked. The instrument had been scared darkly by the Skull Kid's strike, the scorch mark solid in the area just above the mouthpiece, thin black lines snaking around to actually cover the mouthpiece and surround and enter some of the nearby playing holes. It had been marked, its clean surface disfigured, but it didn't look like it had actually been broken.

The Deku Scrub then reached Tatl just as Tael did as well, the three of them just over their belongings. "_Quick, everyone huddle together and grab all of our stuff!_" Link exclaimed in his Deku Scrub voice, scooping up everything he could into a pile, his sword, scabbard, shield, and bag, and then sitting on it so that he was touching it, quickly picking up his treasured possession without giving its black mark a second thought as he put it to his snout. He began playing without waiting, as the ground rumbled, the ancient Song of Time once more requesting the assistance of the goddess whom had watched over him always.

"What's he talking about?" asked Tael, confused as to why he was playing the ocarina in the midst of the chaos.

"_Just shut up and touch him, Tael!_" exclaimed the white fairy, flying up to rest against Link's green garments, coming down to his ankles like a dress. The purple fairy hesitantly began to do so, too confused in the mass chaos of noise to question.

The moon had reached a deafening roar... the voices of the three children escaping him pierced the air... the air was warm, hot, as the moon's entrance into the area generated immense waves of heat... the green sludge was weighing him down and preventing him from moving... suddenly, he couldn't take any of it, and exploded angrily, instantly dissolving the green muck that had been encasing him. In his fury and rage, the Skull Kid saw the three of them huddled together... as the one who dared to stand up to him played the blue instrument that seemed to have the potential to defy his dark magic. They would be traveling back in time, again; or so they _thought_ they were going to.

He smiled wickedly behind his mask as he flew as quickly as he could towards them, anger etched into the face behind the mask. He felt the dark magic coursing through his veins as he approached them rapidly, not willing to allow them any mercy this time; the Skull Kid's feet touched down on the ground just in front of them, lifting his arms to strike them into oblivion them with magic they'd yet witnessed.

"_Link!_" Tatl screeched, looking up at what was about to happen, but no daring to let go of the Deku Scrub. However, Link wasn't able to stop playing the melody, for, at that moment, the tower had begun to lean backwards again, except this time, it would not re-balance itself. If he did not keep playing, there would be no hope, and they would once again be at the complete mercy of fate, should they all once again descend the length of the tower; but if he continued playing, he would be killed regardless by the Skull Kid's attack. Link's only reaction was to blindly continue playing his ocarina, his eyes shut to the rest of the world, as he concentrated his air stream through the instrument in the hopes that he could remember the song and not make a mistake.

It was Tael who answered Tatl's call; the purple fairy left the two huddled together with their supplies and flew directly into the Skull Kid again. The dark magic, however, had already been built up, and so merely exploded in the imp's face when it was not able to be directed at anything. Tael flew backwards confusedly by the force of it, as did the imp, but in the opposite direction. Tael then turned around to see that Link and Tatl had been falling away from him on the tower that had begun to topple, since they were still on its surface and he in the air. The purple fairy's wings erected in shock as they fell from him. "_Tael!_" his sister screamed helplessly.

Tael, as soon as he began to fly after them, stopped when... they disappeared. Link, Tatl, their possessions; all vanished. The clock tower now had no one on its surface, as the force of the moon knocked it over into Clock Town, the top of it falling apart before it could descend intact. The mass jumbling of stone and wood poured into the plaza, showering down upon the empty ground, and the moon continued onward, filling the sky with an intense heat, as the red sky seemed to begin to spark a flame of its own.

The Skull Kid flew up beside the Tael, after recovering momentarily from his backfired attack, though still injured; he scanned madly for the two who had been his prey, and when he didn't see them, he screamed. Tael froze beside him, not sure what to do, as the Skull Kid allowed Majora's Mask to fully enrage him, beyond any level of apathy he had ever felt before.

Before he could further express his anger, however, the imp suddenly felt himself being sucked into some dark black existence that he'd never known before, and his breath was squeezed out of him as everything around him faded from view.

* * *

Suddenly, the sun was there, shining down upon them in its golden warmth. Link blinked twice, his eyes at first unable to take in its warmth. The white fairy flew away from him slowly and steadily, Tatl slightly thrown off by the sudden and abrupt change in scenery. She looked around in awe at what had just happened, not quite able to place a firm grip on reality for a few seconds; and then she did, and understood that they had successfully played the Song of Time and escaped with their lives. The sword, shield, bag, and scabbard were at their feet, and the townsfolk looked confused at the Deku Scrub and fairy who had some how entered the town without carrying any of the stuff surrounding them. The Deku Scrub dropped the hand holding his ocarina to his side and smiled to himself happily; he had escaped, and he'd brought Tatl with him this time.

"Tael...," Tatl said to herself, looking around for her brother that was not there. "He didn't make it with us, did he?" The white fairy, however, didn't seem all that surprised by this; she had actually been more in shock when it had appeared he would be joining them. It just seemed as if it were the way things were meant to be, only her and Link able to live through the same three days. While she was saddened by the fact that he had been forced to sacrifice his own ticket to freedom for theirs, she was also happy that her and Link hadn't died, and neither had Tael, for that matter.

Tatl looked down at Link in a small trance, overwhelmed with joy at the fortunate way in which events had played out. Link had sacrificed himself in order to preserve her life, and yet had not died, now the Skull Kid was alone and by himself at the top of the tower, once again left out of this never ending loop of three days, they reasoned.

Link, not having heard Tatl's question, looked down at the burned ocarina; while he wished the black mark was not there, it did make sure he would never forget these days in Termina, should he ever leave. It would now be a constant reminder of the threat that loomed above them, and Link promised himself that he would not venture to the top of the tower again until he was sure he was able to defeat the Skull Kid.

"We did it...," Tatl said aloud, looking back around at the townsfolk unaware of the situation Link and herself had only just been in. "We did it, Link; we made it back, just like you promised."

"_Yeah_," Link began, glancing around at his accomplishment with a smile that began to dawn on his face. "_I guess we did._" Link then absent-mindlessly reached to put the ocarina down on his belt. However... it wasn't there, and this time, he would have to carry his sword and shield around in this form until they found someone who could heal him in his human form. Link bent down and grabbed the bag, putting his shield and ocarina inside of it, also slipping his scabbard inside of it but keeping his sword in hand, deciding he might need it on short notice. Link shortened the length of the strap on his bag and put it around his neck again, the shield sticking out of the opening also making the bag much heavier, but yet still manageable; the weight had merely taken him by surprise when he had first changed forms.

"It was just... it was like he knew," Tatl added, Link looking up at her as soon as he had situated his belongings. "I think, somehow, he knew that the ocarina had been taking us back in time."

"_How could he know that_?" Link asked in his high-pitched voice.

"I don't know...," she looked off thoughtfully, as if to come up with an answer, but she couldn't. "It's just scary; if he _did_ somehow figure out what we had been doing... what else does that mean? What if he's immune to the whole time travel, and remembers everything anyways?"

"_No, that's not it_," Link added. "_He was doing things exactly the way he did last time before I interrupted him; it was the first time for him, for sure._"

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter. We escaped, and that's that. But... what is it that we should do now?" Tatl asked, looking around curiously. "The swamp, mountains, ocean, and canyon that Tael was trying to tell us about... do you think he meant the four areas just outside of town? There's one in each compass direction. I'm not sure though; he always skips important stuff. I guess we should finally leave Clock Town anyways and check those places out; we've pretty much been through every corner of this place. Which should we go to first?"

"_Well,_" Link began, looking up at Tatl from the old height he'd been forced to endure in what seemed like forever ago. "_I definitely am ready to go on the other side of those walls, but I'd rather go somewhere where someone could heal me; you know, so I'm not stuck like a Deku Scrub forever again._"

"Hm... someone that can heal you...," Tatl wondered off for a moment in deep thought, and then jumped, as she always did, when she had thought of an idea. "We can go to the swamp; there are two witches over there, I believe, that are famous for their healing potions."

"_Sounds fine to me,_" Link said, holding up his sword, in an effort to explain that he could now defend himself, and that the guard would now let him through. "_Let's go_."

Tatl, however, did not immediately jump to going towards the town gate across from then; instead, she turned to Link, obviously something on her mind. "Link... before we go... I just wanted to say..."

"_You don't have to say anything, Tatl_," Link interrupted, smiling at her. "_I should be apologizing._"

"Apologizing?" Tatl exclaimed. "Link, you were willing to give your own life for mine... I think that speaks enough on its own."

The Deku Scrub smiled broadly at this. "_I just want you to know that you're my fairy now; while I'll miss the other Tatl, and you'll never physically _be_ her_, _you will be Tatl, and, as far as I'm concerned, are as good of a fairy as she was._"

Tatl returned the smiled, and then gestured towards the gate at the other end of the square. "Come on; I think it's time we gave that Skull Kid's what he deserves... Deku head."

_Deku Head. _Link nodded excitedly, warmed by the term of endearment he thought he would never again hear. He then took a step to go towards the town gate, but stopped when he had a sudden pain take over his chest. Link, fearing the worst, his hands clutching the spot with which he had already become familiar with, looked down at that point, where there was a hole through his shirt. Only his Deku Scrub skin was there, unharmed, except for a small, thin black line. Link touched it gently, and a small amount of pain shot through him thinly, traveling through him as the strike of dark magic had. It was beginning to overpower the strength of the mask that was attempting to keep him safe in his Deku Scrub form; slowly, his fatal wound would begin to show, until he was no better off than he had been in his human form. It was nothing now, but Link knew it wouldn't be long before it would be.

"Are you okay?" Tatl asked, having gone towards the town gate, but stopped and turned around once she realized Link wasn't following.

Link looked up from the hole in his shirt, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Tatl didn't believe him, but did not feel it necessary to press the matter, gesturing him once again to follow her.

Tatl and Link then left the base of the tower, and the two of them left Clock Town to embrace their adventure, the moon, while still staring at them, far off into the sky.

* * *

The Skull Kid suddenly saw light. He blinked, confused at its radiance as he held up his hand to stop it form blinding him. The masked imp then slowly lowered it when he realized that this was the sun, and that the sky was once again a healthy, rich blue. He looked around confused; he was at the top of the clock tower... but everything had changed. He looked up above to see the moon, far above where it had been days ago. The Skull Kid's mind reeled as he spun around in confusion, noticing that the townspeople had returned and that everything had... started over.

Realization came to him, and suddenly he calmed. Vividly, he remembered striking the ocarina with his dark magic... and it had left a mark. His dark magic, infused with the ocarina; he hadn't realized what this had meant, but now he understood. In Link's act of pure love and sacrifice for Tatl, he had doomed them all by allowing him to accidentally fuse his own magic with that of the ocarina's. Now, whenever it sent them back through time, it would send himself back.

The Skull Kid's smile slowly returned when he realized what this meant; the two of them carried around the black mark that spelled doom for all of Termina, and they had no idea what it meant. He began to laugh wickedly, but his side pained him, bringing him back to reality. He clutched the wound that the backfiring of his spell had made, and then looked down to see that Link and Tatl were leaving Clock Town.

_You think you've won, don't you?_ the Skull Kid thought, eyes intent on his prey. _You've merely spelled out your own defeat. I will find you, and I will kill you. And I will end this world in fire._


	10. Chuchu Jelly

_Chapter 10: Chuchu Jelly_

Link's Deku Scrub feet took its first steps into the field outside of Clock Town, the great walls that enclosed it finally conquered. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, a sign of hope yet for the two's cause. Link looked around less awe-struck than he thought he would have been; the surprise of Clock Town, he reasoned, had been more astonishing simply because he had been trapped underground for several hours before finally stumbling upon it. This field, however, was not nearly as lush, full and whole as his homeland's, and he had seen it before, after his trip through the sewers to find the astronomer. The observatory could actually be seen far off to the left, next to a tree line running parallel to the south face of Clock Town. The field itself was void of trees, except for a large, hollowed out, over-turned log out in the distance, and another large, dead tree, though still standing up, near it. No creatures or animals could be seen roaming about, barren of life, as far as Link could tell, except for the plant life and their selves. The south area of the field was, nonetheless, green, the other areas of the field outside of the other sections of Clock Town not visible from here.

He was standing on a large sidewalk completely surrounding the enclosed city, he wagered, an old staircase leading down into the field, seeming to reach a path, eventually, cutting through the tree line. Link, bag with a shield sticking out of it over his shoulder and a sword in his left hand, took another step forward. His clothing was still far too big, his feet far too small for his boots, already uncomfortable from the little walking he had done. The Deku Scrub then held up his arms annoyingly at the excess clothing he was wearing for his height, feeling still as if he were wearing a dress far too long for him.

"You know...," Tatl began, the white fairy down beside him, having noticed his problem with his attire. "Something tells me that's not supposed to be a dress."

"_I just don't get it_," Link said squeakily. "_When the Skull Kid turned me into this, my form came with clothes that fit_."

"Well, maybe we should go back and ask the Skull Kid to redo it instead of the mask salesman."

Link glared up at her and then back down at his overlarge green Kokiri outfit. "_I'll take the mask off as soon as we get to those witches anyways; then I'll never have to put it on again._"

"Let's hope not," Tatl responded. "It can get kind of annoying when your voice is so high-pitched."

"_Where do we go, anyways?_"

"Um..." Tatl floated out in front of him, looking around for a moment, pausing to stare at the hollowed out log a moment longer before turning around to face Link. "Straight down the path through the trees, I do believe, if we're going through the swamp."

"_As long as those witches are there to heal me_." Link then began to walk down from the sidewalk down the old staircase into the field, his shoes flopping as well as his bag. The sword in his left hand was even slightly harder to hold up, allowing his arm to stay down by his side as he carried it. Tatl, meanwhile, flew beside him, slightly amused at the difficulty with which he was walking, the sun still bright and resting on the horizon, a dark blue sky still cool from the night before.

"You know... you might have some trouble if you try to get to the swamp like that," Tatl pointed out. "There may be a few... creatures less hospitable than myself... if you know what I mean; it wouldn't be a problem if you were a human with the right sized clothes, but, as a Deku Scrub..."

"_I'll be fine, Tatl_." Link pushed onwards, stepping over the grass quickly despite his handicap. Tatl sighed, following close behind regardless of her companion's stubbornness. Link eyed his destination intently, a quarter of a mile or so away; the tree line was broken somewhat off to the left from being directly across from the Clock Town's gate, and the line ended off to the right at a passageway in between two cliffs, an actual dirt road leading that way. They were heading towards the tree break leading into the forest, rather than the one on the dirt road, hopefully towards something that would ease the dull pain that had begun on his chest.

Shortly after, they were there, passing another large, dead tree at the tree line, the last before a live, green forest began. "Oh! I remember this!" Tatl exclaimed, stopping and flying over to stare at the bare tree. Link stopped walking, the shield beginning to grow unbearably heavy already, and re-situated it on his shoulder as he went to stand next to the fairy, looking at what she had stopped to recognize.

It was a crude, white drawing, no piece of art, yet he easily recognized it as a drawing of the Skull Kid; two white balls of light were on either side, Tael and Tatl, all drawn in a moment of happiness that they had shared. Link looked at it strangely, as if just now understanding that the Skull Kid himself had, at some point, been a good, likable friend of the two fairies.

"Tael and I drew this with the Skull Kid when we first met him," she explained, Link turning to face her as she stared at the drawing. "He told us that he had been fighting with his friends and that they had left him all alone; I'm sure it was because he was always playing tricks, so nobody wanted to play with him." Link waited for her to continue, wondering what sort of memory was playing in her head as she reminisced. "... But to do what he did just because of that..." She turned away from the drawing and then looked directly down at the Deku Scrub. "And once he got his power..." There was a moment of silence that followed, the two standing before proof of the Skull Kid's long gone innocence, before Link began to speak.

_ Flop._

A mass of red muck slammed into the small Deku Scrub before he could, knocking him over a few feet away. He managed to hold onto his sword, though the bag with the shield stuck inside of it fell off of his shoulders. He quickly got to his feet as the fairy traveled down next to his side, both looking at the red glob that had attacked him. It had two eyes on stems going out from his body, and a threatening, teeth bared grin, and that was it. The rest of it was just red muck; it summoned all of its weight into the air again, leaping several feet, its way of movement, given the lack of legs. It could only attack by slamming its weight into an enemy, with no arms to do otherwise.

"_What is that?_" Link squeaked, backing a step further out of the way as it took another giant leap, almost just next to his bag that he'd dropped.

"That would be a chuchu... a red one," Tatl said distastefully. "They weren't really all that annoying to me and Tael, but when Skull Kid joined our group, we had to watch for them... well, until he got the mask and started blasting them all into bits every time they crossed his path." It flopped forward again, Link with his sword at the ready, the red chuchu now just next to his fallen bag. It turned away from the Deku Scrub and looked at the brown bag curiously, bending down its head so as to put it inside of it.

"_Wait... hey! My ocarina's in there!_" He took a step forward to begin to walk towards his bag, but there was a disturbing slurping noise, and then it hopped back out of the bag, dragging his shield out of it, the metal weapon half-way sticking out of its mouth. It had attempted to swallow it, but had discovered it was far too big, and began to try to hop away painfully with it sticking out of its mouth, only halfway suspended in the midst of his jelly. It found it rather difficult, the metal weighing each jump down.

Link watched in disgust, at the stupidity and the thing itself. "Yeah... they're not very smart, just annoying," the fairy explained, flying over to the red creature as Link walked over to it. "Hey!" Tatl flew right down to its side, the chuchu stopping in its attempts to hop, and looking over at her with its confused eyes. "Why don't you just let that thing go, huh?" It responded by making the noise it had made early inside of the bag, and then the whole shield slipped through its mouth. The red creature expanded slightly in size, having just had a decent meal, and then began to hop away again, though still not the same size as Link. The shield was now completely inside of it, held still as if inside of gelatin, clearly visible through the light red of the creature; it hopped easily now, quickly back towards the tree line.

"_Hey!_" Link exclaimed, now running after it, Tatl still in the same spot. The Deku Scrub grabbed the fallen bag by the container itself as he ran by, his ocarina and scabbard jingling around inside. The red chuchu looked around to see Link approaching him, and began to hop away faster, now worried that it would be caught. Link reached just behind the creature, and then tossed the strap out as if to lasso it. It fell around the stems of its eyes and caused it to stop; Link quickly dropped his sword and began to fasten the straps around its eye stems as it began to struggle. The red chuchu was unable to break-free, however, and soon had the strap securely tied around its stems, the shield still suspended inside of it.

"... What are you doing?" Tatl asked in confusion as she approached the Deku Scrub tying his bag around the chuchu.

"_Finding myself a little helper_," Link answered, backing away from the chuchu. It looked around, and then quickly tried to hop away. Link, however, pulled back on the strap and sent the red mass into the ground, in vain. It turned around confused, Link slipping off of his boots and tossing them over to it. The chuchu eagerly swallowed these, adding them to its internal collection. Link then bundled the actual container part of the bag into an easily holdable ball, the fact that only his ocarina and scabbard were now in there allowing him to do so. He pulled the bag forward again, using it as a leash, as the red chuchu devoured his shoes.

Tatl was still looking at him skeptically when he further explained, "_I'm not going to carry my shield around the entire way, and my boots won't fit in the bag when the shield's in there too. I'll just let him carry my stuff until we get there._"

"Well... I guess it will work," Tatl said, still doubtful, "if something else doesn't kill it before we get there, or it gets away."

"_It won't get away_," Link said, stopping its several attempts from escaping easily. It continued to struggle in the other direction, however, regardless of however many times he tried to pull towards the path through the trees. Link refused to admit he was wrong, though, and continued to pull on the bag relentlessly.

"Link, it's not going to work," Tatl said, flying over to the chuchu again. "It's just a stupid animal, that's not going to... _hey!_" She managed to see out of the corner of her eye the chuchu attack her, and flew out of its path, the red glob turning around to face her again as soon as it hit the ground. "Why didn't you stop it from attacking me?" She looked at the Deku Scrub, outraged, and had to move out of the way again when the chuchu leaped at her once more. "Hey! Link, are you listening?"

Link looked up at her, as if just having had an idea, smiling widely. "_Tatl, I've got it! Can you just lead it in the right direction, you know... let it jump after you so that it will follow us?_" Tatl, flying out of reach of the desperate chuchu, looked at him as if to see that he was joking; he wasn't.

"Wait... you're being serious? Link, I _refuse_ to be chuchu bait!"

"_Tatl... please?_" He was still smiling up at her, though still not joking in the least. As he waited for a response, the white fairy continued to stare at him, as the red chuchu jumped up and down from far underneath, in futile efforts to reach her.

She then sighed, "... And to think, I was about to jump in front of a lightning bolt for you." Tatl went closer down towards the chuchu, who immediately jumped after her. The fairy backed away suddenly, not having expected such an immediate attack, but soon got the hang of it as the chuchu with the shield and boots inside of it continued to follow the bait into the forest.

Link smiled as he followed leisurely from behind, picking up his sword as he passed it. "_Thanks Tatl, I knew I could count on you._"

"No problem, Link," she said sarcastically, once again flying back just of reach of the chuchu's next leap. The three continued onwards, into the forest, red creature chasing eagerly after the flying white one, a Deku Scrub holding onto the loose make-shift leash wrapped around the chuchu's eye stems.

Link stopped for only a moment when pain shot through his chest again. His hand instantly went to grab the wound; the pain lingered afterwards, and he peered through the hole onto his chest. The black mark had grown, but not by much.

The red chuchu was suddenly stopped midair by Link's bag's straps and pulled back into the ground, and Tatl looked to see why they'd stopped. "What's wrong?" she asked, concerned as her and the chuchu looked over at him.

He quickly let his shirt fall back down over the wound when he saw that she had noticed. "_Nothing_," he quickly squeaked. Tatl opened her mouth to argue further, but the chuchu began to charge after Link, having turned around and noticed him. "_Hey... get back!_" Link swung the sword back and forth threateningly, and it stopped for a moment to reconsider.

Tatl flew back and forth in front of its face, however, to regain its attention. "Hey, stupid red blob! Yeah... that's right, you!" It once again began to follow her, and Link followed close behind. The throb of pain in his chest, however, did not fade away this time.

* * *

"Skull Kid!" The purple fairy flew up towards the top of the clock tower, having just come over the town wall into South Clock Town. He flew hurriedly across the face of the clock, reading 6:07 as it continued its never-ending rotation in the center of town. Tael finally reached the top, the round ball at the top of the tower turning as the clock face was. The top of the tower was directly underneath the moon, though it has high into the sky, a long ways away from crashing into Clock Town. "I'm back; that horse won't be getting out anytime soon!"

Tael, however, stopped when he noticed no one else was there; he looked quickly back and forth, confused, as he scanned the top of the tower for the imp. The Skull Kid had told him to meet him here, by sunrise; true, he had been seven minutes late, but had that been cause to abandon him? Tael did one last rotation of the top of the tower, and then came to accept that he was the only one there. "Skull Kid..."

He flew down from the tower slowly, deep in thought, with no real purpose or direction; Tael had no idea where the imp had gone, also not having a clue as to why the Skull Kid had left him. He had been acting odd these past few days, but not odd enough to suggest his disappearance. Tael then sped off towards the mountains, knowing that the imp had gone there on more than one occasion, for reasons he and Tatl had never known.

* * *

The Deku Scrub finished tying the bag firmly to the thick tree branch in a sturdy knot, Link walking several feet away from the now struggling chuchu, pulling relentlessly against the leash that was now tying it to a tree. Link stopped when he came to the large, smooth rock they'd found in the forest, falling down on top of its cool surface in exhaustion, a few rays of light dotting him from above the tree tops. The fairy smiled to herself at the struggling chuchu, and then turned to float just beside Link.

"Not a bad spot," Tatl commented; they'd been traveling for several hours, having done so since they entered the forest, and now Link had found it necessary to take break, Tatl needing one from being chuchu bait just as badly. "I can tell you used to do this for a living; how many times exactly _have _you ventured through a forest?" She remembered having met him in one, the day her, her brother, and Skull Kid had scared him off of his horse and robbed him.

"_I grew up in a forest_," Link explained, curling into a ball around his ever slowly emerging chest wound as he laid on the rock, trying his best to hide his pain from Tatl. "_That's why I wear the tunic I do; the Kokiri, we were called. We're forest children, that are never supposed to leave the Kokiri Forest, guided by our guardian fairies that never leave us, as we remain children forever. Supposedly, if one of us ever left the forest... we would die._"

"Really?" Tatl inquired, in disbelief, turning to look at the struggling chuchu carrying the shield and boots one more time before resting on the rock beside Link. "How come you didn't die? The forest we were in; was that the Kokiri Forest?"

"_No_," the Deku Scrub squeaked. "_Apparently, I'm not really a Kokiri; that's why I didn't die __when I left the forest, and why I didn't have a guardian fairy until I needed one to save Hyrule. My mother, as I was told, brought me there to hide me from a war in Hyrule, letting the guardian of the forest, the Deku Tree, raise me away from its destruction. I didn't find out until I was older, when the Deku Tree asked me and Navi to save Hyrule from an evil sorcerer named Ganondorf._"

"Wow," commented Tatl. "That's a mouthful." A moment of silence commenced after this, Link lying on his side turned away from her, and the fairy trying her best to think of something else to say. "So... Navi; you two stopped this evil sorcerer guy... and then she left you?"

Link didn't answer at first, and Tatl wondered if this was a subject he was still tentative to discuss. "_Yes_," he answered. "_But she doesn't matter anymore, Tatl; I'm here with you, and we're going to stop the Skull Kid. That's what matters right now, us saving Termina._"

"I don't want you to say she doesn't matter," Tatl said, getting up off of the rock and flying to the other side of Link to speak to him face to face. "That offer I made you still stands, even if you didn't really acknowledge it back then; you know... for me to help you find Navi, after we stop the Skull Kid?"

Link looked up at her at this, smiling again. "_Of course, Tatl; that sounds fine to me._"

"I'd like to see Hyrule anyways," Tatl admitted. "From the way you talk about it, it sounds like its better than this rat hole kingdom."

"_Well... you've actually left, haven't you? I mean, it seems most people here haven't even left Termina before; you were in the forest, though, with the Skull Kid._"

"Hm," Tatl said thoughtfully, looking off into the trees as she did so. "I guess so; I'm not even sure how we did it, you know, in what direction the underground tunnels come from. The end of the swamp is unchartered forest, the ocean to the west no one has ever crossed, the canyon, as far east as it goes, is an uncrossable gorge, and then on the other side of the mountains..."

When she trailed off, Link sat up eagerly. "_What's on the other side of the mountains?_"

Tatl turned back to face him, obviously hiding something, having brought something up she didn't want to discuss. "It's where the Skull Kid has gone ever since he got that mask, whenever he's hurt or feels weak; I honestly don't know what it looks like, since Skull Kid won't let us see it. He says... we're not ready; I honestly didn't care enough to go and see it for myself."

There was a moments silence, before Link finally spoke. "_Well... maybe we can go there next, after the swamp. Tael said the four from the swamp, mountain, ocean, and canyon, right?_"

"He did... but I'm not sure if we have to go to the other side of the mountains," Tatl immediately corrected. "I'm sure whoever it is we're looking for is in the mountains, and not... on the other side."

"_I don't understand why everyone has such an isolationist mentality here; there's plenty of world out there that isn't a part of Termina_," Link protested, now sitting up on the rock.

"Alright, we can go if you want Link, I'm just... I don't know." Tatl couldn't think of anything more to add, turning away from him as she looked away.

"_Sorry, I'm just... curious, I guess,_" Link apologized, lying back down on the rock once his wound burned again. "_I'm going to take a nap, Tatl; you can too if you want. I'm sure our day of walking has only just started._"

"That... sounds good to me Link..." The Deku Scrub then closed his eyes, and Tatl floated down to lay on the other end of the rock, deep in thought as she lie still.

* * *

_Flop_... _flop_... _flop_... _flop_...

"I think we should take turns," the fairy suggested sarcastically, just as she dodged yet another leap from the chuchu, leading it further and further into the forest as it flopped on the forest floor repeatedly. They had been traveling through it for many hours since their break, having spent most of the day walking straight through the trees, the tree tops only barely blocking the rays of the setting sun; they'd seen a few creatures along their path: several keese, guays, two other chuchus, and one wolfos, but they had either passed through the trees without having noticed them, or had glared at them a few times before turning away. Link followed the leaping red glob and flying fairy half-heartedly, carrying the bag balled in his hand, the straps loosely dangling between he and the chuchu, who was still intent on the fairy. "What do you think, Link?"

The Deku Scrub looked up from staring at the ground at the fairy, smiling only faintly. "_I think that if I could fly, I would_."

Tatl did not respond, at first, hardly paying attention to her job as chuchu bait, having done it long enough to grow used to it. "Hm... I think we should name him, at least; I think he's become a worthy contender to pick up spot number three on our time traveling squad. I mean, look at him; so much... determination." _Flop_... _flop_... _flop_... _flop_...

"_How do you know it's a he?_"

"I don't," Tatl admitted. "I wasn't sure if they even had genders; honestly, I don't want to imagine those things mating." _Flop_... _flop_... _flop_... _flop_... "Floppy? Chewy? Blobby Mule?" Tatl stopped, however, when she noticed Link sulking again, wincing slightly when he took a few more steps. "Are you _sure_ you're okay, Deku head?"

"_Yeah Tatl; I'm fine. I think I'm just a little sore from when bubble brain knocked me over_."

Tatl didn't believe this, but, as she had done in the past, did not push the matter. "Bubble Brain... huh? Didn't think of that one; I think we've found you a name, Mr. Chuchu: Bubble Brain!" Its only response was to continue flopping after the fairy, just as intent as it had been hours ago at capturing and eating her. The shield and boots had not deteriorated while suspended inside of it, still wholly intact; Tatl had revealed that only biodegradable objects did that within their masses.

The fairy, flying backwards, felt intense sunshine behind her, and turned around to see that a clearing had begun, looking directly into the blazing orange sun on the horizon, making sure to continue flying forward to further avoid the chuchu. It, upon further examination, appeared to be the end of this side of the dense forest, being also the beginning, and fine point, of a large and tall plateau beginning just across from them; two passages were born, one on either side of the plateau, the one on the left with more forest, and the right a continuation of the new treeless feature. In the clearing, before reaching this dual path, a few tall dead trees grew, Link, Tatl, and the chuchu just now exiting the forest to enter this area.

"_Well..._," Link began, now completely ignoring the pain in his chest, refusing to lift his overlarge shirt to see through the hole how bad it had gotten. "_Which way should we go?_"

"Um...," Tatl started, as Link held the strap tightly, the chuchu angrily fighting against the leash around his eye stems to get to the fairy, "I think right. Left looks like it just leads into denser forest." Link nodded, beginning to follow and allowing the chuchu to continue its never ending chase for the fairy.

They had only gone a few steps before a loud howl sounded behind them, chilling Link and Tatl both, causing the Deku Scrub to turn around fearfully, the chuchu freezing instantly at the sound of it. It had come from the tree line they had just left, the forest; the call was familiar, Link having fought many of the type of creature the call came from in Hyrule... but never as a Deku Scrub, once again fatally injured, as he seemed to be more often than not in this new land. "Link... I think we should start hurrying; I don't like the sound of that... thing."

Link forced himself to turn away from the noise, and then began to walk forward away from it, now gripping the sword in his left hand tightly. He walked passed the chuchu, realizing that it had stopped chasing Tatl after it had heard the noise. The red creature stood frozen and erect, shaking slightly in fear and unwilling to move. Link tugged on it several times, but it was too afraid, standing still. "_Come... on..._," Link pleaded as he pulled on the straps repeatedly. "_It's going to eat you if you just stand there!_"

"We have to go, Bubble Brain!" Tatl said, flying back and forth in front of its face in order to snap it out of its trance. Eventually, it began to come to, as if having forgotten the call, and then began chasing after Tatl again, Link sighing with relief and following behind. "That's better, Mr. Chuchu. It's what you were born to do: carry Link's shield and over-sized boots."

They had reached the path going right, the wall to their left being the rocky, right wall of the plateau, and the right barrier being more forest, when a second call happened. The chuchu froze again, and Link let out a wail of aggravation at this, about to tug on him again, the fairy calling his attention before he could, "Link; it's here!" The Deku Scrub spun around quickly to see a large, black haired wolfos at the edge of the forest. It had bright, yellow eyes, its black fur slightly gray in some points; it was a massive creature, its paws huge and its snout large, baring long, sharp teeth. It was on all fours, staring at the three creatures a couple of hundred feet away from itself, all staring frightfully at it. "... I don't think this one's just passing by." Then, the large wolf creature let out a loud, powerful, piercing howl, into the now sunless sky, the last strands of sunlight disappearing from behind the horizon and leaving the world in twilight; it was only beginning to grow dark, and yet the creature had come from the darkness of the forest to find food.

Link stood there at first, as still as he could possibly be, his sword close to him and fairy floating beside him; the chuchu was utterly petrified, as it had been before. The wolfos remained feet away, staring at them, teeth bared, growling. There was no movement at first, the distance between them neither growing or shrinking, Tatl glancing back and forth nervously at the Deku Scrub. "Link," she whispered, trying her best to move as little as possible. "What are we doing?"

"_It might still just walk away; wait for it to make the first move before we start running,_" Link whispered back.

"It just howled at us and has its teeth barred!"

Link didn't respond at first. "_Good point_." And then he spun around as quickly as he could, clinging to the leash as he sprinted in the opposite direction of the wolfos, in the direction they had been heading anyways. However, Link stopped short when the chuchu remained still, not responding to him trying to run away with the leash; it was still staring, wide-eyed at the monster that was now sprinting towards them. Link looked up from the the chuchu at the running wolfos when he turned around, and then completely dropped the leash and abandoned the chuchu. It stared in shock at the wolfos for only a moment longer, and then spun around, hopping desperately after Link and the fairy away from the predator now chasing them, having lost precious time.

Link's tiny Deku Scrub legs ran as fast as they had when the Skulltula had been chasing him, Tatl flying just above him as they rushed through the path in between the plateau's cliff side and the edge of the forest. "Link," she began, amidst their high speed sprint, "I hate... how you're never... a human... when you need to be the most!" Link didn't respond, concentrating solely on running, the wound on his chest screaming an agony at the physical exertion with which he now found himself doing. Each step after the next sent a sharp pain burning directly through him, his walking becoming slower as he breathed in and out heavily. Suddenly, the pain was too much, and he screamed out as it overwhelmed him, crystal clear images of the night on top of the clock tower flashing through his mind with each slowing step, though not from his perspective.

He was the Skull Kid... he saw the ocarina... and he suddenly found himself in unspeakable horror at the realization that there was magic to defy him... magic that had healed the twerp's cursed form and sent him back in time... he had to kill him now before he could use it again; yes, before he understood what he had in his possession. Just one bolt of lightning would do the trick, and then his precious plan could continue; it was, after all, only hours from completion...

... "Link!"... The voice was faint, he hardly heard as he summoned all of the dark magic he could into his finger tips, to strike out at the green-hatted boy; he was so unsuspecting, crying miserably as these pathetic humans so often found themselves doing... "Link, get up!"... The fairy; it had noticed!... He quickly released it, before she could warn him... but she was already too late; he was only turning his head when...

"_Link! What are you doing?_" He suddenly came to, lying on the grassy floor face up, staring at the darkening sky, the fairy flying around him madly and chaotically. His chest hurt immensely, and he stirred as if from a nap, though the urgency of Tatl's voice caused him to sit up and attempt to regain focus quickly. "_Did you just decide to collapse on the ground and take a nap while the angry wolf is trying to eat you? Get up, Deku head!_" He looked passed the fairy to see that the wolfos was still charging down the passageway in between the plateau and the forest... and that he had exited the passageway, now on the other side of it and in another grassy clearing, bordered by forest on his left, and nothing, at least as far as he could tell, on his right. The wolfos was not far behind, however, and Link had looked just in time to see it reach the wide-eyed chuchu hopping as fast as it could; all the beast had to do was bring a giant paw down on top of it, without even slowing its pace, and then the red glob burst into clumps of red jelly, spattering the grass surrounding the area as if it had never been living. The wolfos continued regardless of what it had just done, trampling over the now exposed, and Bubble Brain coated, shield and boots.

Link quickly turned around and jumped to his bare feet, shocked for a moment at what was behind him. The clearing actually ended shortly at the shore of a body of water; it was muggy, dirty, life-filled green water that went on, about the size of a pond, before it met a tall cliff that marked its border. What had once been the border-less right was now his left, and it turned out that direction followed the path of the water, which went along motionless through a channel that snaked through the forests and cliff sides in that direction. Right where the grass ended and gave way to water, a wooden pier was constructed, running until it reached a taller wooden platform, on which a building was built. Small and wooden, like the pier and the platform, the only way to reach the building was to cross the wooden path above the water, and then climb a latter to reach the top of the platform and venture through the front door.

The Deku Scrub, however, did not pause to take all of this in, running directly for the pier towards the building; once he had climbed the ladder, he would be safe on the platform where the wolfos could not reach him. "_Hurry!_" Tatl encouraged him, but he had hardly taken his first few steps, when suddenly the wolfo's panting was dangerously close, just behind him. The fairy gasped as she was pushed out of the way, and Link knew that running further would not be quick enough, keeping his back to the beast much more dangerous.

And so, he swung around, bringing his left hand holding the sword up into the air towards where he knew the wolfos was behind him. It was perfectly timed; as the beast had just reached his back, sprinting full speed, it was met with the shining blade. The wolfos quickly retaliated, rolling off to the side so as to not meet the blade and the Deku Scrub directly, but it had reacted too late; the blade sliced into its jaw as the wolfos rolled off to the side, stumbling and falling on to its side when it tried to land on its feet. It howled in pain as it tried to quickly get to its feet, the deep cut in its jaw shining with blood, spots of it making a dotted path in between it and Link.

Link did not hesitate in continuing his run for the ladder after this, almost having reached the end of the grass, keeping his now bloody sword at the ready. The wolfos recovered quicker than he had expected, but this time, when he turned around to meet the wolfos with the same attack, it had been expecting it. The large wolf smacked the sword out of the Deku Scrubs hand easily, Link's thin, young wood textured arms not strong enough to hold onto the sword. The wolfos did not stop its charge, placing both paws on the young child's shoulders and pinning them down to the ground, Link shrieking in pain from his hand, chest, and now crushed shoulders.

The two were now face to face, the large holding down the smaller, and the wolfos reared its head back as Link quickly charged another of his green bubbles in his snout. He wasn't able to charge it fully, releasing it as late as he could possibly manage, just before the wolfos had been able to dig into his neck. The familiar green sludge burst over its face, and the wolfos let go of the Deku Scrub and backed away, its paws attempted to scrape the goop off of its face as it whined.

Link, trying his best to disregard the pain, turned around and leaped onto the pier, not bothering to stand up until his feet had landed on its wooden surface. He then ran straight for the ladder, his little feet pattering lightly on the wooden surface. His chest seemed to be the most pain filled out of everything, even though it had yet to be injured in the encounter with the wolfos. The pain intensified, and he once again found consciousness of the situation at hand slipping away.

He suddenly saw himself, Tatl, and Tael huddled together on the edge of the clock face at the top of the tower, the sky red and filled with fire, whoever it was he was seeing this from far away in the air, witnessing himself, the Deku Scrub, playing the ocarina. _No_, he thought, _not again! I must stop them; I'll kill them now. I'll smash them to bits with magic they've never seen before!_ The image of the ladder broke through the scene vaguely, the swampy water behind it as he had just crossed the pier; he could hear Tatl screaming in the background, though he could not tell what it was she was saying.

As he reached out for the rungs of the ladder, the image of himself and the two fairies huddled together far away returned, except this time, he was flying quickly towards them, raising his arms to murder them in a horribly unspeakable way. He was almost there; the green-hatted boy would not be able to finish the song in time... However, the purple fairy rammed him unexpectedly in the gut... just before he could...

Link jolted awake, however, when his hand almost slipped from the rungs of the ladder. He was half-way up its very tall distance now, but the whole thing had begun to shake violently. The first thing he saw was Tatl, already at the top of the platform, egging him to hurry quickly. Link turned to look down, seeing the problem of the commotion. The wolfos was angrily attacking the end of the ladder attached the pier, being the only part it could reach; it ripped the bottom end of it apart with its sharp teeth, tearing its massive clawed paws through it as well, as if it were paper. The wolfos eyes were intent upon the Deku Scrub, filled with rage, its jaw bleeding profusely and its eyes surrounded by a face covered in green sludge.

The damage being done to the bottom of the ladder was shaking the entire thing, threateningly to fling Link off of it into the water. He gripped desperately to the rungs of the ladder beginning to fall apart, shakily and carefully reaching for the higher rungs, the ladder whipping back and forth dramatically as the wolfos tore it to pieces. The Deku Scrub struggled, each stride of the arm paining him in the chest more so than the last.

"_Link!_" Tatl screeched, now in outright terror at what was happening. "_Come on, Deku head! Hurry, please, don't let it get you!_ I'll... go get help; Link, I'll be right back!" She quickly flew from out of his view, now actually on the platform, Link only able to see its underside from his position; he assumed that she'd flown into the building, but help, he feared, would not be able to come quick enough.

Link gasped when the ladder jerked violently in one direction, a hand flying off of the ladder, as well as his feet; his one hand, his stronger one, the left, managed to hold on, however. He desperately tried to replace his feet and other hand back on it, but that part of the ladder dissolved away, falling violently around the wolfos who had destroyed it. The lowest still intact rung was now over halfway through the length of the original ladder, being the one his left hand was clinging to. Link hoisted his entire weight with the one arm, quickly shooting his right arm up to grab the rung above it. He steadied himself, clinging desperately to it as his feet remained tangling.

Eyes squeezed shut, he realized that the ladder was beginning to stop shaking back and forth, calming. Link opened his eyes and looked down to see that the wolfos had run out of ladder that it could reach, now jumping up and down and snapping its jaw at the Deku Scrub's dangling feet that it could just barely not reach. Link gasped at this, lifting his feet as high as he could, bringing them up into the air as he continued to weakly climb the ladder. The wolfos began to demonstrate a fit of rage, madly barking and growling at the Deku Scrub who had evaded its attack.

Link finished his journey up the ladder, crawling onto the surface of the platform, and then collapsing just at the end of the ladder, not able to move another muscle to reach the door to the building. He panted in and out, his chest searing as his head swam. Link looked up to see the door open, and a very large, bearded man stepped out, his torso bare of any clothing except for an open leather jacket. His skin was tanned, arms powerful, stomach large and soft, frighteningly tall and powerful over the small child lying down. He looked worriedly at the Deku Scrub lying on his doorstep, and the fairy flew out behind him. "Link, one of the witches was supposed to be here, but she's not right now!"

Link could only moan, and Tatl flew down to be just in front of him, the Deku Scrub lying in his over-sized tunic on his stomach. "_Tatl..._," he said weakly. Link used all of the strength he could muster to flip over onto his back, slipping his arms out of the tunic and pushing it down to his waist to reveal his chest; Tatl gasped.

"_The Skull Kid!_" The large, black mark that had been burnt into him as a human was now almost completely there in his Deku Scrub form. The black mark looked deep, and its many branches snaked far, a deep scar that not even the power of the mask could hide. "Link... why didn't you tell me?"

"_Go..._," was Link's only answer, the large man no longer paying attention to either of them, but instead peering over the edge of the platform at the wolfos tearing apart the remains of his ladder madly. "_Go, get the witches... now!_"

"Link... I don't..."

"_Now, Tatl!_" The fairy then nodded, flying quickly away out of Link's site. The Deku Scrub's vision then began to fade, the large man with pilots hat over his head turning back to look down at the injured animal on his porch.

"You okay, kid?"

Link wasn't able to respond as he faded away; suddenly, he was in dazzling sunlight, on top of the tower as he looked down on a Deku Scrub and fairy on the plaza floor, walking towards the town gate. _I will find you, and I will kill you. And I will end this world in fire._

_

* * *

_

The two traveled through Hyrule Field, accompanied only by the noise of the wind and the horse's efforts at transporting her master. It wasn't but an hour before the town gate was finally in view, tall and wooden, the opening guarded by a guard in shining armor. The modest village of Kakariko was located in a large valley in the beginnings of the mountains; the road into the village cut through and into the valley, the wooden gates of the town reinforced on each side by elevated land.

Link passed through slowly on his horse, the guard recognizing his Kokiri clothing instantly and nodding his head, "Good day, Hero. Is there anything you need?"

"No," he said, going through the opening the fence made as he said it. "Just passing through." The cloudy skies above grumbled slightly as Epona continued on the grassy, fertile land of the village; it was a place Link visited quite often, and one he would miss sorely once he had left Hyrule, for however long he was gone. He and Zelda had spent much time with the Cucco keeper here, whom was their closest friend in the town, and whom Link had come to say good-bye.

He passed the large tree in the center of the town, where Mutoh, the carpenter of the town, was yelling angrily at his younger employees, slacking on their job, as always. Link smiled to himself at this, and continued onward into the first grouping of buildings in the town, the second group being on a second story, further up the valley. On his way to the house, Link looked to his left forebodingly at the town well going deep into the ground, its black stone slick. He knew what had come out of it... seven years in the future... and wondered if destroying it then meant it was destroyed now.

Link pushed on regardless, turning his green-hatted head away as Epona stopped at the front of the large, two story house. He slid off of the saddle, tied the horse's reins to the post in front of the house, and then knocked on the front door. "Hello? It's me, Link."

"... Come in," replied a young female voice from the other side of the door. Link turned the knob of the unlocked door and pushed it open.

His eyes found a thin, young lady with shoulder-length, dark red hair that came around her ears prettily; she was sitting in a char with her back turned to the front door, facing the fireplace on the other side of the small, two story house, basically once open room. She held something in her lap that Link could not see, and she held her head down, sadly in front of the crackling fire. The green-hatted boy, sword and shield tightly clad behind his back, stepped through the doorway and closed it behind him.

He stood there silently at first, the lady in the chair not turning to greet him, the only noise that of the fire. He turned to look at the large bookshelf covering the right wall, and then to the table neatly set in the left corner of the room, his eyes then following the staircase in the back of the room that lead up to the balcony second story, which held a bed and dresser. Link, afterwards, allowed his eyes to shift back to facing the back of the chair. "Hi," he greeted softly, looking at her sadly as he took a few steps closer towards her, his large, comfortable brown boots clunking on the wooden floor.

"Hi," the woman replied sweetly, but yet in a miserable tone Link knew she had had these past few days. He stopped when he'd just reached behind her chair, and then added nothing more, waiting for her to turn or speak to him. "I guess you're leaving then?"

"Yes, I am," Link responded immediately and definitely.

"You won't change your mind?"

"No... I, can't."

She then turned in her chair, standing up from it as she placed what she had been holding down on the seat: a picture of a young, handsome man that Link instantly recognized. The lady then looked at Link directly, holding her hands together in front of her as she thought of what to say. "Well," she began, "thank you... for saying bye, before you left." Another moment of silence, the lady's eyes leaving Link's, and unwilling to meet his again.

"I won't be gone forever," Link added afterwards. "I'll be back; I wouldn't leave you and Zelda behind for that long, especially since..." He trailed off though, not sure if he could finish.

"I know."

Link then turned away silently to go back through the door and leave, but he stopped before he reached the door, turning around to look up at the red headed lady still standing, back now to the fire place. "And Anju."

"Yes?" she questioned, looking up at him sadly.

"I'm sorry for your loss; I truly am. No one, expected him to die like that. He didn't deserve it; Kafei was a good man, and you two would have been happy together."

"I know," the lady, Anju, added again. "Please just make sure you come back, Link; without you, it just makes it that much harder, him not being here anymore."

"I will; you don't have to worry about that. I'll return with Navi, before long at all."

She smiled weakly at this, and then Link opened the front door, stepped outside, and closed the door behind him.

* * *

"How long has it been?"

Link heard this voice, but it sounded far away. His brain struggled to focus back to reality, leaving his eyes closed and using his other senses first. This voice had been Tatl's, but it had sounded worried; so far off, however, that Link wasn't sure whether or not it had just been apart of another dream.

"He'll wake up whenever he feels like it, stupid fairy! Just give him time." This second voice that had responded to Tatl was new to him, very high-pitched and screechy, definitely belonging to a female; he had been fading in and out of consciousness for quite a while, but now thought that he was finally awakening, fully aware.

"Hey, don't call me a stupid fairy, you stupid hag!" Tatl yelled back.

"I'll stop calling you a stupid fairy as soon as you stop calling me a stupid hag!" the second voice screeched back, sounding as if she was at work doing something involving many objects and tools.

"I'm already done calling you a stupid hag!"

"Then I'm done calling you a stupid fairy!"

"You just called me a stupid fairy, you stupid hag!"

"Have you forgotten that your friend's life is in my hands?" the second voice then retaliated. "This is very dark stuff happening to him right now; if I were to stop treating him, he'd be as dead as that chuchu you had carrying your stuff!" This caused Tatl to stop talking immediately, and the second voice then laughed lightly to herself. "... _Stupid fairy_..."

"Hey!"

"Tatl...," Link said weakly, interrupting their conversation when their argument began to anger his aching head. He stirred slightly, moaning as he turned his head to the side, realizing that he were human, by the tone of his voice and the way he felt.

"Link!" Tatl exclaimed happily at this, flying back to be just in front of the boy's closed eyes. "You're awake!"

"About time, too...," the second voice mumbled from farther off than Tatl. "I was getting sick and tired of you talking in your sleep; you do that a lot, you know. Kafei this... and Anju that... the Skull Kid stole my horse... Navi left me... Seriously, you might want to fix that; anyone that sleeps next to you will know your whole life story before you even wake up."

"Hey, he's injured; he can't help it," Tatl said in his defense.

"Oh, my bad, I didn't realize he was hurt; maybe that explains why I've been slaving away at concocting healing remedies back here in the corner, while you've been nagging the entire time about how he's supposed to save the world, and that if he dies we all do."

"It's true!"

"Oh really? Well, if the Skull Kid can kill him at the flick of his wrist, he'd better be shooting light arrows out of his ass before he hopes to do any damage."

Link moaned as the fairy left him to continue her argument, bringing himself to open his eyes, now fully confident that he was no longer dreaming. He was on the inside of an old wooden shack, looking like it could possibly be the inside to the one that he'd passed out at the doorstep of; he wasn't entirely sure though, given that it was a very small room, and the large man was no where to be seen. Objects were messily clustered all throughout this half of the building: used pots and pans, jars filled with a wide variety of objects, tattered books in odd languages, blankets and cauldrons scattered all around, and then the bed he was lying on, pushed up against the wall amongst the ocean of possessions. The halfway point of the building was marked by a counter, however, and on the other side of it, it was neatly kept and completely clean. Though just as small as the other half, it contained a single couch up against a wall for sitting, and then the only door into and out of the shack.

The argument between Tatl and the unknown female had been happening behind him, in what microscopic amount of space was outside of his field of vision. So he attempted to lift his head off of the dusty pillow, a blanket covering the rest of his body, and then turned his head to see a small, old lady up against the back wall in a chair, cauldron in lap, stirring busily at it, crouched over its steaming contents. Her eyes were large and wide, mad almost, a long, crooked nose barely outside of the black pot. Her hair was sticking straight up and white, and she wore a shaw over loose, old, frayed clothing. Her entire body was rather small and fragile, bundled up underneath her clothes on top of the chair, herself larger than Link's Deku Scrub form, but smaller than his human.

"He doesn't have to do that!" Tatl exclaimed, once again in his defense. Link then sighed, turned around to rest his head back on the pillow and closing his eyes. The old witch, a large, blue gem encrusted into her forehead, did not look up from the cauldron when she responded, instead picking up a jar with the hand not stirring, and dumping a powdery substance into the red liquid bubbling. "His ocarina is ten times as powerfully as the Skull Kid could ever be!"

"My ocarina!" Link suddenly exclaimed after having heard this, shooting off of his pillow as he sat straight up, his blonde head bare of any hat, hair messy and untidy. His chest seared with pain at this action, and Link quickly went to grab it once the covers fell from around his shoulders. His chest was bare, revealing the gross, black scar that was burnt into his light skin. It was as large as it had been before, but there was no red in the center, having scared over since his fateful encounter with the imp's dark magic attack.

"Whoa, whoa, now, Mr. Hero," the witch said, putting her cauldron down on a low, messy shelf and crossing over to be by his bedside. She pushed him back down to lay flat again, his eyes squeezed shut as he did so.

"But I forgot it was in the bag," Link explained, as the witch threw the covers back around him. "I dropped it when the chuchu wouldn't follow... and..."

"Don't worry," she said as she hopped back into her chair and grabbed the cauldron once more. "I grabbed all of your stuff, your shield and boots too; that wolfos won't be causing you anymore trouble either." She cackled madly at this, but then recomposed herself to continue. "And you're pretty lucky to have been carrying around that red chuchu with you; I've been running very low on supplies lately, and without the chuchu jelly, it would've have taken me a lot longer to heal you."

"You would have done it even quicker if you weren't wasting your time mocking me constantly!" Tatl yelled back, once again, angrily. Link moaned loudly at this, throwing the covers over his face and covering his ears as his headache throbbed slightly.

"Wasting time?" the witch screeched back, this time placing her cauldron down to continue and looking directly at the fairy. "All you've done today is complain, constantly; you haven't done a useful thing since flying up to my doorstep and begging for my help!" The fairy didn't have a response to this, backing away as the witch sat back into the chair and continued her work. "I can't believe it; I don't see how you live with her, fairy boy! I'd of shown her the back of my hand long before now, myself."

There was a moment of silence afterwards, Link pulling the covers form over his head when the fighting did not continue. He looked over at the witch to see her busily working, and then back over at Tatl to see her staring hatefully at the old woman. "So," Link began, clearing his throat, and realizing, though he felt weak, that he felt as if he were stable, and not anywhere as close to death as he had been recently, "are you going to be able to take away the black mark completely?"

"No, no; I don't know if anyone could do that," the witch answered, finally taking the wooden spoon out of the cauldron and setting it down, done stirring. She set the black pot of red liquid on the table, then, grabbing a book she'd had open on the floor and sitting back in her chair. "What's happened to you is very dark, darker magic than I've ever seen before. I've healed plenty a scar in my time, but this... it's not a normal mark."

"What do you mean?" Link asked, staring at the roof as he conversed with the elderly woman, who was flipping hastily through pages behind him.

"I mean that it's not just a mark; it's a curse. Some of the dark magic is still inside of you, you _and_ your ocarina, where the black marks are. I'm not sure what that exactly means, but what I do know, is that it's not going to go away. It could spread, it could corrupt you, it could kill you, it could do nothing; I honestly don't know what it's going to do. All I can do for you is make sure the initial impact of the attack doesn't kill you, and that's it." She then stopped at a page, looking down at it carefully before sighing, slamming the book shut, and tossing it behind her. "I don't understand how that little imp got so powerful; I've seen him messing around here like an idiot plenty of times. It's why the swamp has been poisoned and the temples have gone mad."

"The swamp's poisoned?" Link asked thoughtfully, pushing back the thought of a deadly curse on his chest for the time being.

"Not around here, but further down it is," she explained. laying back in her chair as she closed her eyes. "What did you do to make him so wrathful? He messes around like a child, but I've never seen him outright murder."

"Then obviously that big chunk of rock in the sky hasn't caught your eye," Tatl mumbled to herself before Link could respond.

"What's that?" the witch asked, looking at the fairy and leaning forward.

"Nothing," she said, smiling to herself.

"Nothing? That's surprising, coming from your mouth; stupidity has yet to stop your tongue from dirtying the world with your speech!" Tatl's smile faded instantly, but the witch interrupted her before the fairy could come back with a witty response of her own. "So! Fairy child; what is it that you and this imp have against each other? He's not going to come after me now that I've helped you, is he?"

"No, I don't think so," Link said thoughtfully, Tatl once again backing away and staring at the old lady angrily.

"Then why'd he shoot you in the chest with enough energy to kill you?"

"Because... he...," Linked stopped though, not sure how to finish. He thought about the night on the clock tower, and then didn't know if he had the answer. "I honestly don't know; I was talking to Tatl... and then, while I was still looking at her, Tatl yelled my name just in time for me to see him trying to kill me." The witch looked up at him thoughtfully, Tatl beginning to realize that she didn't know why the Skull Kid had attacked them either.

"So... you've had no past with him before?" the hag inquired, her frail body scooped up to rest on top of the chair. "You and your fairy girl just decided to have a conversation right in front of him... and then he tried to kill you?"

"No," Link corrected, shaking his head, still facing away from her and staring at the roof, lying on the bed underneath the covers. "We... were going to the top of the clock tower to try and stop him from destroying Clock Town with the moon."

"The moon?" she exclaimed, beginning to cackle again at this. "Burning a permanent curse with unknown, powerful properties into a child and a clay instrument is one thing, but using the moon to destroy a town? He wishes; no one is that powerful."

"Do you not see it outside the window?" Tatl said. "It's a lot bigger than it was a week ago, and it has a face now! Doesn't that strike you as a little bit odd?"

"It's not the cause of the imp, though!" the witch cried back. "No single creature could obtain that kind of magic on their own."

"What are you talking about?" Tatl yelled back, having yet to have a normal conversation inside the hut. "How else do you think it got like that?"

"Oh... a magical imp is the _only_ explanation for that, is it?"

"What else co-"

"Tatl," Link interrupted, looking at the fairy. "It's because we're talking about the wrong thing; it's not the Skull Kid."

"What do you mean, Link?" Tatl asked, after a moment to calm herself down from yelling at the witch and Link having interrupted her.

Instead of answering the fairy, he turned to the witch. "Have you ever heard of Majora's Mask?"

The witch's playful tone she'd carried throughout the majority of the conversation was instantly gone; her eyes widened, and she let her feet fall down from the chair and touch the floor, staring at Link intently. Link, having noticed the change in tone, turned to lie on his stomach and face her, stopping halfway when he realized she was staring at him intently. Tatl flew over closer to Link at this, slightly frightened herself.

"Are you trying to say that Majora's Mask is responsible for giving the imp his powers?"

Link thought carefully before answering, wondering if the change of atmosphere was reason enough to lie; he decided against it. If they avoided ever discussing the mask, how was it that they could ever truly face it? "Yes," he finally answered, gravely. "I've seen it myself, on the imp."

"_How would you know what Majora's Mask looked like?_" the witch suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs, leaping down from the chair to be face to face with Link, who shrank slightly underneath the covers.

"I... don't," Link admitted, gulping.

"_Then don't you dare suggest something as dark and terrible as that!_" she yelled into his face. She was breathing in and out deeply, not breaking eye contact, until the moment of silence continued. Then she let out a deep breath and turned away, staring off into the distance as she continued. "I've seen the imp wear a mask too, but never did I think..." She then turned back around to face him.

"I'm not sure you've realized what you just said. Majora's Mask is was a terrible thing, a legend having been on this Earth years and years ago. It was the darkest thing anyone had ever heard of, murdering and corrupting; nothing could stand against it. My people weren't of the tribe who created it, but our tribe did exist back in the same time period long ago. I've heard and read... very dark stories recorded from those days; the one tribe who had used it in its hexing rituals had awakened a power that they did not fully comprehend. It was our collective decision to lock it in a realm far away, where it could never escape and realize its full potential. And that's it; Majora's Mask is gone, and you will never mention it again!"

"A mask salesman I met claims to have found it," Link added, further pushing the subject, passed the hag's wishes. "He lost Majora's Mask when the Skull Kid robbed him."

"_No, he did not!_" the witch suddenly yelled again, jumping to her feet and facing him once more, her crooked nose a hair away from touching his. "_That wretched relic is history, a myth that might not even be true; it doesn't exist in this world and never will again!_"

Link was silent after this, gulping again when she walked away angrily. She grabbed a small bowl, dipped it in the cauldron, and then handed it and its contents to Link. "Drink this now," she demanded. "When you can stand on your legs, you're going to repay my favor by going out into the woods and finding my sister."

* * *

Note: More to come on the whole Hyrule plotline on a later date, explanations given then. I didn't intend finishing this chapter so quickly, or for it to be this long, but both happened, and... now that my Spring Break has ended and AP exams are on the horizon, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write these next couple of weeks. I wouldn't expect for Chapter 11 to come anytime soon, but I will try my best to work on it as often as I find time to.


	11. The Woods of Mystery

Note: Wow; it's been... over a month now, hasn't it? It's been one thing after the next, and I've only ever had time for a paragraph or two at one sitting. Last night, however, I sacrificed a night of sleep to finally finish this; the good news, is that this one month period of not being able to write has given me time to think of the individual climaxes for each one of these subplots I've created. So, rest assured, I have a very strong idea of where I'm going. But, as I mentioned to Danimal89, what I really need to do is come up with some kind of schedule, so as to not have periods of back-to-back publishing and one month gaps of nothing. Anywho, this chapter turned out to be a LOT longer than I originally intended, and, unfortunately, I had to cut in half; though, this time, I was more original than just naming them "Part 1" and "Part 2". I'm going to post this next chapter very soon since it's already finished, though, and not make some sort of system yet for two reasons: Number one, is that I feel kind of bad for having been gone for so long. (Once May 12th passes, my spare time to write will triple). Number two, the next chapter, having originally been a part of this one, is basically a climax to everything seen here; I felt bad dividing it, mostly because this is the plot set up, and the latter chapter had a nice little resolution to it when you read it all together. But, a good dividing point presented itself, and I had to slash this miniature short story of its own into two separate narratives.

* * *

_Chapter 11: The Woods of Mystery  
_

"I hate that stupid hag!" Tatl exclaimed as they were once again immersed in the swampy air.

Link stepped away from the entrance to the hut, having just stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind him. The wooden shack was familiar to the one Link had struggled to reach when the wolfos had attacked him; it was on a raised platform with a ladder leading down onto the ground. It was in a location unfamiliar to him, though; while it was obvious they were still in the southern swamp area, it was a new section. The small building on the tall raised platform was in the middle of a small, shallow pond, surrounded by a grassy area in turn surrounded by forest. Only directly behind the building did anything differ, a large rock face there instead of trees, continuing onward back out of sight, a narrow, tall waterfall coming down from the rock face into the pond. The pond emptied out into a small stream on the other side of the building, snaking through the forest, the only visible path to or from here without traveling through dense trees.

"I mean... you heard her, right? It wasn't just me imagining things?"

Link turned to face her, once again green-hatted and clothed in his Kokiri tunic. The witch had, after healing him, sewn the hole from the lightning strike shut; his belt was again around his waist, holding his ocarina, and his boots were no longer coated in chuchu jelly, along with his shield, now with his sword that was back in its scabbard, both on his back. The wound on his chest was still sore, feeling like a dull bruise underneath the green fabric, but otherwise he felt back to normal, bag once again around his shoulders with the Deku mask inside of it.

"Yeah, I heard her," Link answered after a moments consideration, turning back to see if the witch, Kotake, as she had named herself, was listening on their conversation through the window. While he couldn't see her, he didn't doubt that she was. "I'm not sure what to think about what she said, though."

"It was complete crap; that's all there was to think about it!" Tatl exclaimed as Link turned to begin climbing down the ladder.

"I don't know, Tatl," he commented skeptically, as he went down one rung after the next towards the shallow pond.

"What do you mean?" the fairy continued to protest, flying to float towards the ground at the same speed as Link was descending the ladder. "First-off, she was being a complete idiot. Secondly, she didn't listen to anything we said about Majora's Mask; she's in complete denial!"

"Yeah, but, how do we know the mask salesman even knows what Majora's Mask is? She seemed pretty frightened by it; I think she understands what it is more so than we do."

"The mask salesman knows everything, though!" Tatl pointed out as Link's boot went through the thin layer of water and touched the soft ground underneath. "At least, he seems like he does."

"That's true... but I still don't think we know all there is to know about it," Link said, taking his hands off of the ladder and looking up at Tatl. "I think we should pay the mask salesman a visit once we leave the swamp and get him to answer more of our questions: about this place, the mask, and all that other stuff."

"This place... you mean, Termina?" Tatl said this slightly confused, as if not understanding what he meant. "I can answer anything you need me to about this place; I've lived here almost my whole life."

"_Almost_ your whole life? Really?" Link immediately said doubtfully, rolling his blue eyes slightly. "Then where exactly were you before Termina?"

"Um... I don't... that was a long time ago, Link..."

"See! My first question, you couldn't answer!"

"That wasn't even a question about Termina!" Tatl shouted back. "Anyways, let's just go see the mask salesman and ask him about whatever it is you think you need to know; don't let what the stupid old hag said get to you."

"We can't leave yet," Link pointed out as he looked out towards the forest.

"And why not?"

"Because we have to find... Ko... oo... um..."

"Koume, Link; Kotake said her sister's name was Koume."

"Yeah, her; we promised, and I need to pay her back for saving me."

Tatl sighed loudly at this, looking away from him in disappointment. "You goody-two shoe types annoy me to no end; does it really matter, anyways, Link? Once we play the Song of Time, it'll be as if we never helped her: Koume lost in the woods and the stupid old hag bitching it up in her shack again!"

"With that attitude, we'll never get anything done," Link said. "I mean, Tael said to find the four who are there, right? How do you know Koume or Kotake isn't one of them?"

"My brother wasn't very specific, was he?"

"No, he wasn't; so, I purpose we snoop around the swamp until we stumble upon something useful. Besides, once we play the Song of Time again, we'll appear right in the front of the mask salesman as always."

"Fine, fine," Tatl sighed. "Let's go do some hero stuff then."

"Alright," Link agreed, turning again to face the tree line encompassing them, broken only by the narrow rock cliff behind the shack and the water's path snaking back through the forest in front of them. The cloudy sky rumbled with thunder, daylight hidden behind the gray sheet; the first day had already come and gone.

"Where do you propose we break this tree line, Mr. Hero?"

"That way," Link answered quickly, pointing to a random spot on the circle of trees and traveling across the small pond to that spot.

"Um... any reason that way stood out?"

"I'm not sure," Link admitted. "It just seemed to be the best looking out of all of them."

"They all look the same, Link; that's why it's called Woods of Mystery."

"If we got lost, I have my ocarina to take us back to Clock Town on the first day," Link reassured her, his boots splashing water up around his knees, the water shin deep.

"I'm no longer comforted by your ocarina's powers, Link. You _did _have the ocarina when the Skull Kid shot you in the chest and when the wolfos tried to eat you. You almost died... both times; the ocarina didn't help."

"But this time will be different."

"Sure Link, sure...," Tatl said as the two entered the dense collection of trees, Link stepping out of the water. The tall, green trees further lessened the sun's already feeble light, casting them further into darkness, as Link's footsteps propelled him across the moist grass. The fairy remained by his side, feeling a rain drop make its way through the canopy and fall into her glowing orb. They continued onward, deeper into the forest and away from the swamp, its miasmic odors fading away with the more subtle scents of the wooded area.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tatl asked worriedly, as she turned around and was already unable to see the swamp. Link stepped over another large root carefully, looking over his shoulder at the fairy. "You know, walking blindly into the 'Woods of Mystery' without knowing where we're going, or any way of finding our way back?"

"What else could we do?" asked Link. "Kotake wasn't very specific when she told us where her sister was."

"So you're hoping we just happen to stumble upon her? Geez, Link, do you ever think _anything_ through?"

"I know what I'm doing, Tatl," Link retorted, sounding as if he was growing slightly irritated by her skepticism. "I lived in a forest for most of my life."

"_Almost_ your whole life? Really?" Tatl said mockingly, as she smiled to herself and continued following him. "Then where exactly were you before you lived in a forest?" Link glared up at her, tripping over a root as soon as he'd turned to look at her; he managed to regain his balance before completely falling over though, blushing as he dusted his tunic off. "They didn't teach you how to walk through the forest in all those years you lived there?"

"Be quiet, Tatl," Link said angrily now. "And besides, I already told you where I was before I came to the Kokiri Forest: Hyrule, remember? My mom hid me in the forest from a war."

"Oh," Tatl merely commented after this explanation, her smile fading. "I forgot about that."

There was silence as the two continued walking at first, the fairy floating thoughtfully beside him as Link wondered what it was she was thinking about. "What's wrong, Tatl?" he asked after a few moments of quiet only interrupted by his footsteps. "I didn't really want you to stop talking."

"Psh, like I'd stop talking just because you asked me to!" she retaliated. "But, I was just thinking... about the other side of the mountains, and what's across the canyon and the ocean; I've never really thought about those things before you started asking about them. It's weird, like it was never something anyone wanted to... or _should_ think about; it's hard to explain, you coming from Hyrule and all. You've made me curious though, Link, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Link didn't have a response at first, thinking over what she'd said himself; instead, he continued the conversation with a question of his own. "You said this forest was uncharted, didn't you? That the end of it would mark the end of Termina?"

"Uh... yeah...," Tatl stammered nervously.

"Then why don't we just keep going straight? Eventually, we have to reach new lands, don't we?"

Tatl seemed to grow nervous at this, following the blonde-headed teenager regardless closer towards what he hoped would satisfy his curiosity. She turned to look at him to see him looking back up at her, waiting for a response. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Don't chicken out on me now, Tatl; you just said a few seconds ago you thought it was a good idea!"

"Yeah, but I was just... well, talking then! I didn't think we'd actually do anything about it so soon."

"If we don't do it now, we'll never do it," Link theorized, waiting for her response once again. "If the border happens to mark the edge of a massive cliff that leads down into a never-ending abyss... I promise we won't cross it, okay?"

"... If you say so, Link," Tatl finally concluded, knowing she would not be able to convince him otherwise. Link smiled at this, turning back to look into the darkness of the forest where he was walking.

He didn't understand it; why was Tatl so afraid of leaving Termina? Even looking over the border seemed to intimidate her. His entire life had been one of adventuring and exploring, and he came to the conclusion that not everyone embraced the unknown as willingly as he did. But it wasn't only her; no one seemed to know anything about things that had originated outside of the boundary the forest, mountains, ocean, and canyon set. He'd yet to meet anyone who'd even heard of Hyrule, except for the mask salesman; even Anju, whom he swore he'd met from somewhere else, had no clue of its existence...

"_Anju!_" Link suddenly exclaimed, stopping his footsteps immediately as a memory flashed across his mind. Tatl's train of thought was abruptly halted as she turned around to face him, a look of inquiry upon her face.

"Yes, Anju; she's the clerk at the Stock Pot Inn," Tatl replied sarcastically.

"No, no; Tatl, I _remember!_" Link exclaimed eagerly, pure disbelief and discovery baffling his facial expressions; the fairy couldn't tell if he was upset, happy, or excited. "We were really good friends; me, her, and Zelda used to hang out all the time at Kakariko Village! She was a Cucco keeper; she was engaged to Kafei..."

"What are you talking about Link?" Tatl exclaimed. "Did those swamp fumes finally get to your head? What's Kakariko Village? Who's Zelda? And yes, I already knew Anju is engaged to Kafei!"

"No, Tatl. _Was_ engaged. Kafei's dead."

The fairy lost her sarcasm at this, quietening as disbelief began to set in. "What do you mean... Kafei's dead?

"I remembered something while I was unconscious after the wolfos attacked; Kotake said I'd been talking in my sleep... but these weren't just dreams, they were memories of things I hadn't remembered from Hyrule. I knew Anju as a good friend, and I left to find Navi just after I'd gone to say good-bye and comfort her about Kafei's death."

"Are you sure, Link?" Tatl asked, the two still stopped in the middle of the dark forest. "How exactly could you forget something like that? You'd think seeing one of your best friends in an unfamiliar land would be a cause to strike a conversation with them; you two acted like you didn't know each other."

"But that's the thing; I swore I'd seen her from somewhere, but I couldn't figure out where!" Link's face was beaming with discovery, proud of himself for having uncovered another piece of this vast puzzle.

"That still doesn't make any sense!" Tatl persisted. "How could you just forget about her like that? Did you hit your head or something when you fell down that hole?"

"No," Link immediately answered, trying to come up with an answer. "It's like, this place is different, but yet it has so many faint similarities to Hyrule, but no one here has even heard of that place. It's like, this place is a different world entirely, but a mirror image of Hyrule in a lot of ways."

Tatl at first didn't have a response, her face blank with disbelief. "Do you even hear yourself, Link? A different world? I think the better explanation is that it was just a dream; you've never met Anju or Kafei outside of Termina. They just appeared in your dream in Hyrule, because, well... it's a dream! Anything can happen in those; plus, those two things are probably on your mind a lot. It would be a small wonder that they'd get mixed together."

"I don't think so, Tatl," Link persisted further. "It feels so real, now that I remember it."

"Yeah, dreams do feel real while you have them; that's the point of them." Link merely scoffed at this, putting his hand to his forehead as he looked out worriedly for some sort of explanation. Tatl, upon seeing him fretting, sighed and decided to attempt to act more concerned. "Besides, Link, how could that even be possible? You traveled on your horse to the forest, and then the Skull Kid jumped you; at what point could have entered a new world?"

"I...," Link stopped to think once more, wondering how it was he'd entered the forest in the first place. The general idea was in his head: he had traveled on Epona over Death Mountain and into the forests on the other side. But the specifics, he found he could not remember. What had he done after leaving Anju's house in Kakariko Village? What encounters had he had on his journey across Death Mountain, if any? He realized there was a vast field of blankness there, as if his mind did not want him to remember. Something had happened between being robbed by the Skull Kid and saying good-bye to Anju, but he couldn't remember; not yet, at least.

A flash went across his eyes as his mind wondered around this forbidden territory: himself, running on Epona as fast as he could, desperate to get as far as possible as quickly as possible, the sun shining brightly behind him... and that was it. The flash sent a throb of pain through his head, and he instantly stopped thinking about the specific span of time, grabbing his head and squeezing his eyes shut as he felt a dull throb from the scar on his chest as well.

"You okay, Link?" Tatl asked, concerned at his sudden reaction to pain.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Link said, eyes still shut. He opened them and blinked swiftly as his eyes readjusted. "Let's just keep going straight until we reach either Koume or the end of the forest; you're probably right, Tatl. It was just a dream."

Tatl didn't believe a word of what he said, knowing he was trying to dismiss the conversation since neither of them could reach an agreement. "Okay, Link; I can do that, let's keep... hey, _watch out!_"

Something knocked Link out from under his feet, and he landed on his back painfully, his ankles now with much greater pain than his head. He scrambled to a sitting position quickly, looking at what it was that had hit him in addition to the injuries it had given him. Two, fresh cuts were now open at the back of his ankles, blood glittered the grass where the gashed had been ripped into being. They both were of even length and depth, having been simultaneously hit by what was in front of him: a large, turtle-like creature, a tough green body encased in a much larger, tougher dark brown shell. The shell was rimmed with pointed spiky extensions, threatening to slice open anything that rubbed against it. The turtle appeared to have gathered itself into its shell and spiraled towards Link while he hadn't been looking, cutting into his ankles with the serrated edges and knocking him onto his back. The turtle's large yellow eyes looked at Link wickedly as it turned back around to face him, its neck, four legs, and tail now sticking out of its shell.

"What the-?" Link exclaimed as he shuffled back onto his feet and stood, his ankles paining him as he did so. The turtle creature, meanwhile, brought its body parts back into its shell and began to spin around silently, its sharp edges dangerously rotating. It flung itself towards him again, and Link jumped out of the way, rolling to land on his feet so that he was facing it even though it was now on the other side of him, rather than leaving his back vulnerable. He drew his sword and shield as the creature did not stop to exit its shell; this time, it continued around in an arc and came back towards him, swiftly.

Link held up his shield, not having expected such quick retaliation, and the creature slammed into its metal surface, jagged edges first. The impact knocked him over onto his butt once more, and the creature was sent a few feet backwards, exiting its shell dizzily. It had hardly begun to look up and regain its senses before Link had jumped to his feet and brought his sword down on top of its exposed head. It's life ended just like that, the Kokiri blade's longing for blood finally quenched.

Link panted, backing away from the now dead turtle thing as he stared at its corpse. There was a moment of surprise, admiration, and shock between the two as a short silence was born, Link's panting just as much a part of the silence as his lack of speech.

"Woah," Tatl said. "I know I complained earlier about your Deku Scrub form being all weak and puny; I didn't realize how right I was. I could get used to _this_."

"What was that?" Link asked curiously, not commenting on Tatl's compliment and wiping the excess blood dripping from his blade on the nearest tree bark.

"That was a snapper, I do believe; they're pretty nasty," Tatl explained. "They won't attack if we keep walking though; I think if we hadn't of stopped to have our little discussion, that wouldn't have happened."

"Right...," Link replied, slipping his blade into his scabbard and repositioning his shield. "Guess that means we should keep moving?"

"Genius!" Tatl exclaimed sarcastically. "Why didn't I think of that?" Link smiled at her sarcasm, continuing through the forest and leaving the snapper's body behind as the fairy turned to follow. "What have we learned today, boys and girls? Don't discuss crazy alternate universe theories while in the middle of a beast-infested forest."

* * *

Link stared down at the pile of wood angrily, his green hat heavy with weight now that it was completely drenched. His blue eyes did not leave the thick sticks on the ground, as water fell from above the trees to continue soaking his would-be fire. Tatl was floating silently behind him, in a spot where the rain was the least concentrated, trying her best to refrain from laughing.

"Are you... um... just going to stare at it all day?" The fairy waited for a response, knowing that the day was almost over, the sun setting somewhere behind the gray clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance as Link's hat slid off of his head and hit the ground, sighing as his blonde hair became as damp as everything else. "Link? We'd better start doing something; I mean, it's already the night of the second day, and we still have no headway in finding out who this person we're supposed to find is. We have about thirty-six hours before everything we've done is erased."

"But we haven't done anything, Tatl," Link pointed out, bending down to pick up his hat and wringing it out before dropping it into his bag, finally turning away from the wood. "It'd be pretty easy to redo everything if we had to; just run into the forest and let a wolfos attack me, and then stumble into this place and get lost."

"Yeah... lost in the creepy, dark forest; I totally didn't see that one coming."

"It's just so infuriating!" Link suddenly exclaimed, turning to the pile of wood. "I spent a good half an hour collecting all of this!" He then kicked it, his boots scattering the pile messily.

"I tried to..." Link glared up at her before she could finish, and Tatl sighed. "I guess there's no point in blaming anyone; we just need to decide what to do next." She looked around the dark forest in each direction, each the exact same as the other: trees, with raining falling through the canopy, a cloudy sky overhead and wet grass underneath. "... I think our options here are limited. We could... walk... left... or right... or forwards or backwards. Or we could play the Song of Time and get out of here, so we could ask the mask salesman what it is that's going on!"

"No, I'm not going to do that," Link stated firmly, turning around and walking in a direction, leaving the small clearing they had found behind. "Every time we do, we leave behind this place to be flattened by the moon."

"No we don't," the white fairy corrected him as she followed. "We're still here, just back in time, and besides... aren't you getting kind of hungry? Everything that witch had that you ate looked disgusting, and we already had to spend the entire first day without eating. I mean, even _I'm_ starting to get hungry, and fairies go long periods of time without eating; you're a human."

Link continued walking, realizing that she was right as he clutched his growling stomach. He'd been on countless adventures that required limited food, but recently, he'd gone through a long period of steady meals at Hyrule castle; it would take getting used to again. "Let's just find Koume; we can worry about food once we get back to Kotake's."

"Fine, fine; whatever you say," Tatl grumbled.

"You'll come back, won't you?"

"What?" Link asked, turning around to face Tatl after he heard this.

"What what?" the fairy asked. "I said 'Fine, whatever you say.'"

"No, after that," he said, a sense of urgency about his face.

"After that? You stopped walking and asked me what I said."

"No, Tatl!" he exclaimed. "I thought I heard you say something else, but it didn't sound like you."

"Then it probably wasn't me!" Tatl theorized, looking confused at Link's confusion. "Are you starting to hear voices in your head now? Who _did_ it sound like?"

"... never mind," Link said, dismissing the conversation and turning around to continue walking.

"No, seriously! Who?"

"It's just some from Hyrule; no one you know," he explained as Tatl began to follow him once more.

"Link, I'm tired of you constantly dismissing every conversation we have about you; I'm not going to give up this time. Who was it? Your girlfriend?"

Link shook his head at this and smiled slightly, still staring off ahead rather than looking at Tatl. "It was... the princess of Hyrule, Zelda."

"Ooh, a princess! Lucky you, fairy boy; I think I've heard you mention her once or twice before. So... you thought you heard her say something?"

"Yeah, the last thing she said to me, actually, before I left to go and find Navi," he explained. " 'You'll come back, won't you?' "

Tatl thought for a minute about this before replying, "Well... will you?"

"I hope so," he answered immediately. "I really miss that place, and her, but first I have to save Termina and find my horse."

"Hm.. I forgot about your horse," Tatl said thoughtfully. "What about Navi? Are you not going to keep looking for her?"

This time it was Link who did not have an answer at first, the only sound in these moments of silence being the rain pattering on the leaves and the grass, the moisture softening the sound of his boots hitting the ground. "I don't know. She did _leave_ me; I'm not sure if she'd want to come back with me, wherever she is."

"Hm...," Tatl commented, not sure what else to add.

"Do you really have to go?" the voice asked him once more.

Link stopped abruptly and turned around again. Instead of looking at Tatl, though, he looked passed her, for the source of the voice. And... he saw someone, off in the distance behind a tree, a head peering from behind a trunk, and then it was gone as soon as Link had turned around and spotted it. "_Hey!_" Link exclaimed, running passed the confused Tatl as he ran after the tree that the person had gone behind.

"What happened?" Tatl asked, before following after him. Link reached the tree and looked behind it, but whoever it was was no longer there. He looked up hastily in the direction whoever it had been had presumably run off in, and saw movement farther off into the trees. Link sprinted in that direction quickly, his mind solely focused on this pursuit. "Link! What did you see?" He didn't answer, however, and she followed him reluctantly. "Link!"

He continued to run, making sure not to trip over the roots on the forest floor, his wet bangs sticking close to his forehead as the rain continued to fall. "Navi left you, Link; I'm still here. You don't have to go." Zelda's voice rang in his ears distantly, as Link still pursued the person through the forest, even though he or she was now out of sight.

"Zelda!" Link called out. Naturally, there was no response, but he pressed onward, Tatl beginning to fly at full speed when she saw how quickly and desperately Link was running. His chest began to throb dully with pain, the dark magic the Skull Kid had burnt into him beginning to fester.

"But you still left me, Link. You still left me. It's your fault what happened, because you weren't there to stop it."

"_Zelda!_" Link screamed now. "It's not real... it's not real..." _But you're running after it?_

Link came to a stop when he realized he'd lost track of whoever it was he'd been chasing, screaming her name once more as he looked around frantically. "Link!" Tatl exclaimed as she finally caught up to him, behind him when she came to a stop. "What's wrong with you?" Link then turned around, but not to look at Tatl, instead acting as if she wasn't there, looking passed her, and the fairy, upon seeing his face, froze. "_What..._"

The boy in Kokiri clothing, blonde hair flattened and dripping, seemingly saw something and ran off towards it, directly passed Tatl. The white fairy spun around, "Link! Snap out of it; your eyes!" He did not stop running, not even paying attention to what she had said; Link came to approach what he had been running after. Someone, backed turned, standing in between two trees, staring off at something. Link did not stop running until he was just behind the person, grabbing their shoulder and spinning them around.

He saw her blue eyes, and she looked at him in shock when he'd turned her around. And then she fell back... back... into the grass, away from him as she dissolved like the rain around her. "You came too late, Link..."

"_Zelda!_"

He was standing on a beach, staring at the massive fortress wall that ran from cliff to cliff, the waves of the ocean crashing and falling behind him. They wouldn't be expecting him for quite a while now, but he'd learned the truth. The mask had told him, but it had been more specific this time. He had fooled the pirates into stealing the eggs, yes, but it hadn't been enough. Majora wanted the eggs destroyed. If they weren't, then the temple could eventually be reached. And that couldn't happen. The swamp, the mountain, and the canyon had already been secured days ago, but now that the ocarina had given them more time... they could secure this temple just as well.

He glided gracefully up into the air, coming to rest on top of the gate and staring down at the outside of the fortress below. There was only one watch boat out, the red-headed, dark skinned pirate within lying sleepily as she continuously circled the water that lay grouped in a lake just in front of the fortress's entrance. She looked bored. He felt obliged to entertain her. She looked up at him as he came down, confused at first. Presumably, she didn't take his flying as a hospitable approach, and she raised her spear. He flicked his wrist and purple flames enveloped the boat, her crumbling down with her vessel as it caved in and sank to the bottom of the floor.

_Hehe. That was funny._

But she died. Why was that funny? The mask had explained it to him; it had told him things and made him understand things. Death was funny; Majora had been kind enough to explain that to him. True, it had taken him a long time to understand... he'd been even reluctant at first, afraid; but he soon learned to trust Majora. It could never lie to him.

He allowed the boat to continue sinking deeper into the depths of the water, flying now up towards a massive wall marking the boundary to the fortress, leaving the wall separating it from the beach behind. A few of the females, identical to the one who was killed, looked up overhead as he flew passed, in awe. He landed down on the top of the wall, looking down at the massive, open-roofed plaza that connected all of the major rooms and buildings, a tall watch tower in the very center.

There was only one pirate at the top of the tower, and she was the only one to notice him from inside of the walls. She froze instantly when her eyes met his, him standing there, staring... and her not understanding at first. It didn't take her but a few seconds to realize that he was posing a threat to her, and she turned and ran as fast she could towards the bridge that connected the top of the wooden tower to a balcony on one of the walls.

He smiled. When he shot his arm out in the general direction of the tower, an explosion occurred at the base, the fire rising up and catching onto the wood as its supports blew out from under it, the tower leaning over to the side as orange flames licked swiftly towards the top. The bridge was pulled from the balcony as the tower leaned in the other direction, sending the pirate in the middle of it up into the air as the wooden watchtower landed on its side and turned into a pile of fiery debris.

They began to scream, only a few noticing him standing there, the rest in blind panic. He smiled wider, laughing as he flew off of the wall and began descending slowly to the ground, holding out his palms as purple flames flowed smoothly from them out onto the cold, stone floor, abundantly doubling up and spreading in a beautiful, dark dance. He only found it amusing, the death and destruction reflected in his eyes through the mask, cackling maniacally as the moon looked down from above with the same orange eyes.

"_Link!_"

Link instantly opened his eyes, but the fire did not go away. It was still around him, crackling madly as its brilliant purple light engulfed the dense trees surrounding him. He gasped, but he found that the air was hot and burnt, smoky and devoid of any moisture, due to the rising darkness, continuing to burn brightly as the now light rainfall pattered down on it, hardly slowing its mad progression. He had been lying on the forest floor and quickly scrambled to his feet when he saw what was happening, the grass still oddly moist in the fiery chaos. Link turned, the purple flames reflected in his eyes, looking around for some break in the fire; it seemed to be upon all of the trees surrounding him, but not in the miniature clearing he had collapsed in. The white fairy was with him inside the fire, glancing back and forth between the fire and the boy in the Kokiri tunic, sword and shield on back, and bag over his shoulders, with a mask and hat inside. "_Look what you did; we have to get out of here!_"

` He had no time to reflect on the fact that she had blamed him for this mess, his survival instincts trumping everything else as he spun madly around in the dense heat, all the while occasionally pattered on the head by a droplet of water that it passed the heat barrier evaporating most of it. The fire seemed to be coming from the top of the trees down, and had only been inches away from the grass when he had awoken, now seconds away from torching the ground he stood on. He was still frantically spinning around, the death of the pirates, burning in the Skull Kid's wrath, now burnt onto his mind's eye. Then he saw it: the point in the circle of fire where it was broken, not yet connected.

Link ran for the gap, the fairy following him; he leapt for it as the flames threatened to close together, rolling onto the wet grass on the other side. Link wasted no time lying there, leaping to his feet and continuing to run away from the purple fire behind him. Once they were a safe distance away, Link and Tatl turned around. The fire was continuing to grow, still containing its odd coloration, surviving the rain storm that had begun to weaken by the protection of the forest's canopy. It had spread passed the initial circle, not doing as well in the grass that wasn't as densely roofed by leaves. Link noticed that, still several feet away from it himself, the rain was beginning to stop; the storm was about to end, for the time being, and at that point the dark forest fire would show no mercy.

The two merely stood there for a time, each looking up in awe at the towering purple fire, columns of smoke rising from it to plume into the nighttime sky.

"... I... did that?" Link said after a time being, still staring at the radiant energy gravely and fearfully.

"I don't know," Tatl answered, turning to face him. "You thought you were running after Zelda, and you seemed _really_ determined, like you honestly thought she was there. But you were angry too, and mad; Link, your eyes, they turned a dark purple, the exact color of the fire, and the Skull Kid's lightning. It was scary; it was like you were... _him_." The fire carried more ominous note after this, and Link eventually turned to look at her, not understanding, but obviously very scared.

"When I fainted, I _was_ him; he was at this fortress, near a beach, and the Skull Kid... he burned an entire population of people, and he was laughing while he did it." Tatl did not respond, just as worried as he was, Link now turning away as the memory replayed itself, the fire dancing madly in front of them. "That wasn't the scariest part, though. The worst part, to me, was that... I wanted to laugh too. I felt and thought his thoughts and feelings; I didn't have a mind of my own. For that moment, it's like we _were_ the same person." He shook his head, on the verge of tears, realizing now that his chest wasn't hurting; in fact, it was the complete opposite. The scar burnt into his chest felt _good_, in the presence of this dark magic, as if satisfied at it being there.

"What does it mean, Tatl?" Link asked, turning to face her. The fairy wasn't sure what to say, merely looking at the light of the fire that was reflected on his face, flickering with life.

A monkey cut their conversation short, however; running excitedly towards the two of them, the small, light brown colored animal coming to a stop just behind them, up to Link's waist in height and having run on all fours. "Hey!" it exclaimed, unable to hold still, bouncing up and down excitedly at the fact that it had found them. Its eyes looked up at them eagerly, the small, fluffy creature obviously very young and agile.

Link turned to look at it, confused, as did Tatl, the topic they had been discussing still fresh on their minds. The monkey looked up at them, eyes shining with hope as if it had found a god, only ever stopping his bouncing when he paused to look around them at the raging fire. "Mmm," he stammered nervously as he realized the power behind the purple flames. Now that the rain had stopped, it was spreading quickly and ruthlessly robbing the air of its moisture. "Follow me." It looked back up at them, waiting for a response.

Link and Tatl turned to each other before looking down at the monkey again. "Listen," Link began, the intense heat beginning to reach them as the forest fire spread. "We're looking for someone, and now that this fire has started, we have to find this person right away. Have you seen an old witch lady named Koume? She should be very small, with a long nose... very old."

The monkey nodded eagerly, becoming them with its hand, and repeating in its high-pitched, odd accented voice, "Follow me!" The monkey then turned to look at the fire again frighteningly, before turning his back from it and running hastily in the opposite direction, not giving the boy and fairy a chance to follow.

"Hey – wait up!" Tatl exclaimed, then flying after the monkey. Link waited behind for only a moment, still in complete and utter shock at what he had supposedly done. He turned one more to look at the raging dark magic as it destroyed the wildlife surrounding it, his head craned up to fully encompass its might. _… __it's not just a mark; it's a curse. Some of the dark magic is still inside of you, you _and_ your ocarina, where the black marks are. I'm not sure what that exactly means, but what I do know, is that it's not going to go away. It could spread, it could corrupt you, it could kill you..._ Link turned away from the fire and followed Tatl and the monkey, not allowing himself to think as he left the glowing beacon of warmth and destruction behind.

* * *

Update: So... *cough*... someone pointed at the fact that these woods are actually called the Woods of Mystery, and not the Lost Woods... so... *magically hits the update button, making it as if the error had never happened*


	12. The Forest Fires

Note: As stated in the earlier note, this chapter takes place directly after the last, which is why they are being posted back to back; originally, they were supposed to be the same chapter, but it grew far too long. This chapter is mainly just a climax to the conflicts that began in the former one, and therefore is much shorter. In fact, the only one shorter than it is the first chapter (though that one will probably always be the shortest); anywho, I hope you the crazy scenes of battle and chaos below. I won't be able to start writing again until after Friday, when my biggest exam is finally done with.

* * *

_Chapter 12: The Forest Fires  
_

They eventually came to another small clearing, in which a person almost exactly identical to Kotake laid. They were both aged and small, with the same large nose, as Link had predicted when he'd described the twin to a monkey. The only difference that stood out was the gem encrusted into her forehead; instead of Kotake's dark blue one, Koume's was dark red. She lay huddled into a ball, her eyes wide with fright and panic, but yet her body perfectly still.

Link and Tatl stopped when they reached the edge of the clearing, the monkey continuing eagerly to be back at Koume's side, where two other monkeys already were. The two eagerly greeted the one who had gone to get Link, and then almost immediately urged the two newcomers to come and speak to Koume. The fairy and boy continued slowly towards the fallen witch's sister, wondering if she was already dead. As they came closer, they realized the grass underneath and surrounding her was stained with dried blood, but Koume shakily turned her head to face them, using her arms to support herself so that she could see the newcomers eye to eye. Link and Tatl stopped just in front of her, Koume struggling to hold her head up, the monkeys watching eagerly from either side.

"... _Help me!_" she splattered at them, talking loudly and authoritatively with a very weak voice. Her arms then gave out, and the witch looked in the other direction as her head hit the grass and she closed her eyes, obviously filled with pain. "... I was just busy minding my own business, picking mushrooms, when..." She stopped, picking her head up again to look at him before continuing. "... _BAM!_" The outburst surprised Link, causing him to jump slightly, swearing he saw small curls of smoke leaving her nostrils in anger. "I got hit from behind!" Link nodded eagerly, hoping that no one had noticed him jump. "That pesky Skull Kid! Did he think an old hag wouldn't recognize him if he hid his face?" She let herself relax again, this time slowly bringing her head back to resting on the ground. "_... To think he's that powerful_..._ and now I can't even move..._"

"We came here to help you," Link told her. "Your sister sent us to find you."

"_Kotake?_" she inquired. "Ha, that useless bag of bones isn't good for anything; I've been out here for three days, living off of the potions I happened to have on my person. It took her this long, and then she didn't even come herself. Tell me, what did you do to be indebted to her?"

"Uh...," Link stammered. "I got attacked by a wolfos."

"_A wolfos?_" Koume exclaimed, surprised, looking up at him again. "I would think you could take one of those; you shouldn't be out in this forest if you can't handle a wolfos. This forest is a dangerous place; it marks the end of Termina, you know. Passed these trees is nothing but darkness, and traces of it still exist amongst these trees. Many a person whose come through has seen things... people that they've lost, or left behind..." Link's face suddenly lit up in understanding, and the witch smiled at this before putting her head down. "So I guess my warning is a tad late, is it?"

However, she seemed to just noticed the sound of the fire again when she turned head; Link didn't doubt that she'd known it was there, for they'd never truly ever lost sight of its towering column of smoke, brilliant purple color, or fierce sound. She'd probably only been distracted by their arrival and conversation. "You need to get me out of here," she suddenly said, urgently now. "The fire will be here any minute, and the monkeys wouldn't go and get Kotake for me. I was thinking about signaling Koume to come and help me with fire, but I was afraid of setting the whole forest ablaze. Obviously, that's already happened, so please... in case Kotake doesn't show."

"Alright," Link said, bending down to be just in front of her, wondering how it was she had expected to be able to make a fire. "Don't worry; we'll get you out of here before the fire reaches us." He then grabbed Koume from underneath her arms, gently, but she bared her teeth from pain, and Link realized she would not be able to stand. So, instead, he scooped her into his arms, her head resting against his left arm and the underside of her knees resting on his right. The circle of dried blood was now by itself, Link noticing a stain on her lower left side, the clothing concealing the wound.

"Are you sure we can do this, Link?" asked Tatl nervously. "The fire's spreading pretty quickly."

"I'm sure, Tatl," Link said, beginning to walk back in the direction he'd entered the clearing.

"No, the other way, you fool!" the witch exclaimed, pointing to the left.

"Oh," Link said, trying to hide his embarrassment as he went in that direction.

"I mean... we could always just play the Song of Time and take her with us," Tatl suggested. "That way we'd _really_ save her, instead of just saving her until the moon crushes her."

"What?" Koume said, confused, looking up at Link. "What is she talking about?"

"Nothing," Link answered calmly. "She's crazy; for some reason, she thinks that my ocarina has the ability to take us back in time. I keep trying to tell her over and over again that it's just a clay instrument, and couldn't possibly do that."

"Hey!" Tatl exclaimed in defense. "I'm not the crazy one who thinks we're in an alternate universe!"

"Ha!" the injured witch with the red gem cackled. "Every universe is an alternate universe to someone else; where do you think you hail from, Mr. Hero?"

Link thought for a moment on how she had addressed him as "Mr. Hero", wondering why it was everyone automatically seemed to think he was that sort of a person; after what he'd seemingly done to the forest, however, he wasn't so sure anymore if he truly was a hero. "Hyrule. Can you _please_ tell me that at least _you've_ heard of it?"

"Hyrule?" she said, thinking over the word for a moment. "Never heard of the place."

"Well...," Link began. "I was just thinking aloud, Tatl; I mean, Hyrule is the dominant world power where I come from. Its such a massive kingdom; it seems like it would be impossible to have never heard of it."

"I could say the same thing about Termina," Tatl responded.

"Really?" Link commented skeptically. "A dominate world power? You guys are too afraid to even cross your borders; you don't know _anything_ about the outside world."

Tatl didn't have a response to that one; however, the witch did. "It's too dangerous; you can see what happened to me picking mushrooms in this place. Things act strangely when you're near the outskirts. I only come here to collect the plants I need to make a living; otherwise I wouldn't bother. One could only imagine what awaits on the other side."

"But you should want to face those fears," Link persisted, "rather than staying cooped up in the dark, shouldn't you?"

"Only a fool," Koume responded.

After this, there was quite a moment of silence, as the six of them continued onward through the forest, slowed by the fact that Koume was injured. The monkeys would sometimes leave the group and return, but for the most part they hung around, Tatl remaining by Link's side. Through the journey, the fire continued to grow louder, and it felt as if the purple glow was beginning to pierce the darkening sky and forest.

Their journey was mostly uneventful, until they were attacked. One of the monkeys had attempted to warn them, at a time when the other two had left the group to go off and do something else. Link and Koume had continued onward regardless of the yelping and screeching monkey, but Tatl had grown too irritated by its noise. "Ugh!" Tatl exclaimed finally. "Just shut up, you stupid monkey!" However, it continued to yelp, and the fairy's irritation left when she realized that his help carried... _urgency_. As if it knew something was about to happen. "Hold on... Link." She turned to see the green-clothed boy with the bag, sword, and shield already a few feet ahead of her. "I think he's trying to tell us something..."

Link stopped walking when Tatl said this, and the quiet, only with the fire in the background, allowed him to hear a familiar noise. "It's a..." The spinning turtle shell, surrounded by spikes on the outside, spared him from having to finish. It went for his ankles as the last one had, but this time he had seen it in time to have a few seconds to react. He dropped down his right arm, causing Koume's legs to fall as well, now only holding her with his left arm; Koume's eyes were wide with shock as Link rolled out of the path of the shell, holding the witch close to him.

Link landed on his feet as the snapper flew passed him, going off a few feet before being able to stop. The boy, his blonde-hair still damp from the rain that had stopped, laid Koume up against the tree nearest him, drawing his sword and shield and throwing his bag down beside her. "Can you please watch this while I slay the monster turtle?"

"Certainly," she said, scooping the bag close to her as he turned to face the turtle.

Tatl flew down to remain next to the witch as Link brought up his shield when the snapper charged towards him again, the monkey running away from the battle, presumably to tell his other monkey friends of what had happened, wherever they were. "You know, he's actually pretty good at this adventuring stuff," the fairy commented, as Link deflected another charge from the snapper, sending him and the monster backwards, "now that he's finally got his sword back."

"Let's hope so," the witch commented. "What is it that brought you two to the swamp?"

"Um," Tatl began, looking away thoughtfully as she gathered her thoughts, "that's actually a very long story... Hey! Why are you going through his bag?" The witch brought out the completely soaked, funnel-shaped hat and held it up in front of her, looking at it curiously.

"What is this supposed to be... your tent?"

"No!" the fairy exclaimed. "That's Link's hat."

"Well... it doesn't look very practical." She then pulled out the Deku mask and held it out in front of her. "Neither does this."

"Hey, put that stuff back!"

Link narrowly avoided the next attack by the snapper, not wanting to use his shield and get blown back yet again. This snapper was not pausing to regain his senses, and therefore Link was not given an opportunity as he had last time. He paused again, breathing deeply as he awaited the snapper's next attack. It made sure it was far away from Link before exiting its shell, looking at its opponent intently; or, so Link thought. He soon realized that the snapper was standing there, shaking terribly at something. Link knew that, while the fire was somewhere nearby, it was not close enough to be the cause of this reaction, but did not dare turn around. The snapper did, however; eyes wide with fright, the creature entered its shell and spun away from all of them, as fast as it could, into the forest.

"Well," Tatl said, coming over from the witch. "Looks like you scared it off." Link merely shook his head, looking around cautiously. "What?" Then, they heard a long, loud howl that wasn't all that far in the distance; it was proceeded by several more howls, all coming from different creatures somewhere near them in the darkness, and all belonging to the same kind of creature. The howls chilled their blood, Koume slumped up against a tree, while Link and Tatl stood near here, Link backing away slowly to be in front of the witch.

The first wolfos then showed its eyes, glowing in the dark, its teeth bared, growling at the prey it had found. More pairs of eyes showed, as well as more sets of teeth, the wolfos then emerging from the darkness of the newborn night, having been awakened by the fire and discovered the prey trying to flee it as they had. Link looked around nervously, Tatl just by his side, now completely in front of Koume, ready to protect her. The fire sounded closer than ever, and Link wondered how close the wolfos would be willing to risk this hunting game before being trapped by the fire. Soon, there were no less than five surrounding them, and the first one ran after the boy, fairy, and witch just in front of the tree, that particular wolfos having been directly across from them.

"_Link..._," Tatl said uneasily as the wolfos charged. Link ran to meet it, slashing his sword out towards its jaw that had opened to bite him. It managed to avoid cutting its mouth on the blade, but ended up with a gash on its side as it leapt out of the way. Link turned to face it as soon as it landed to the left of him, glancing nervously in all directions surrounding him, wondering when it was the other wolfos would decide to attack.

Koume, meanwhile, nervously had her eyes going back and forth between all the wolfos, wondering how long it would take them to realize she was the defenseless one, or, if the already had, when they would find the opportunity to bypass Link, who was still in front of her, facing the wolfos who had first attacked him. She placed the mask down silently next to the bag and hat, and slowly began to breathe in and out, moving her arms in and out with her air, closing her eyes as she concentrated. Tatl looked over at her curiously.

Link rose his shield as the wolfos lunged after him again, its claws gripping around the shield and attempting to pry it from him when its attack only met metal. Link batted it away with the sword, taking a few steps back as the wolfos brought its now wounded paw up to its chest. Another wolfos charged at him from behind, Link hearing its growl just in time, spinning his shield around to knock its leap back down to the ground. He then backed away so as not to be in between the two, raising his sword and shield and again as both recovered to eventually attack simultaneously. A third wolfos came out beside the first one, now all three approaching him slowly so as to corner him back into a tree just beside the one Koume and Tatl remained at. The entire time Link took steps backwards, he continued to hold his shield up, glancing behind him swiftly every couple of seconds to make sure no others were behind him hoping to completely trap him. When his eyes did finally catch one behind him, a fourth one, just next to the tree trunk he was backing up towards, he knew now that he was completely surrounded, waiting for one, if not all, of the wolfos to strike first.

"What are you doing?" Tatl exclaimed at the witch, who seemed to be concentrating intently on something as she continued breathing. The fairy turned nervously to see the wolfos closing around Link, and then back to the witch. "This is no time to meditate; we have to help him! We can't just sit here and do nothing." Koume smiled when Tatl said this, still breathing in and out. Then, Koume took in one massive breath, opened her eyes, and thrust her hands out.

Fire bellowed forth with the movement of her arms, the red gem on her head suddenly glowing brightly, the flames remaining packed in a massive ball of red and orange fire as it hurtled towards the three wolfos. The massive ball of fire, a stream of flames trailing behind it as it traveled, went through the first two nearest her, the third one in the line in front of Link managing to avoid it, having had time to understand what was happening. The two wolfos hit were instantly ablaze, abandoning their attempt to corner Link as they ran hectically in the other direction, eyes wide in pain and surprise, living torches that charged aimlessly to their deaths. The remainder of the blast of fire caught the tree across from them ablaze, it now burning; the purple forest fire could now be seen of into the distance, still ruthlessly consuming all trees in its path, no longer all that far away.

The third wolfos, who had survived the blast, seemed to understand where the fire had come from, and bared its teeth at Koume. Link, meanwhile, was attacked by the one who had been by his side behind him, bringing his shield up as the wolfos latched onto it to toss it next to the one in front of him, about to charge after Koume. The wolfos he had tossed scrambled to its feet, while the one baring its teeth at Koume was slashed by Link's sword, screaming in pain as it turned to face what had just wounded him, already forgetting about Koume. Link brought his shield up to now face these two wolfos, the tree that had caught fire beginning to spread, the purple forest fire still approaching far off to the left.

"So what was that about sitting here and doing nothing?" Koume asked, as she looked up to see Tatl's astonished face, having just summoned the fire. She cackled madly at this, the fairy in disbelief, but still watching intently at Link's battle as she remained by the witch's side.

"Can your sister do that?" Tatl exclaimed.

"... Not with fire, but yes."

"Well, don't do it anymore," Tatl said, gulping when she saw what the aftermath of the fire attack had done. "We don't need a third forest fire."

"If I hadn't of... _Ack!_" Tatl spun around when she heard Koume scream, seeing a wolfos, having grabbed Koume by the back of her clothing's collar, dragging her back behind the trees lit by the fire and away from the battle.

"Koume!" Tatl exclaimed, turning to look at Link and call for help. However, Link was preoccupied fighting the wolfos; the two set ablaze had run off, and he'd managed to group the other two together, but there was still no time for him to help the captive witch. She looked back nervously at Koume as she was dragged away, not sure what to do. The fairy looked quickly around, hoping to see something, _anything_, that would give her an idea. Her eyes then spotted the Deku mask, damp hat, and empty bag, flying immediately towards them.

"_Let me go, you hairy beast!_" Koume exclaimed, and to her surprise, the wolfos did. She fell down onto her back and looked up into the threatening eyes of the monster that was crouching over her, growling as it prepared its teeth to dive into her. Her eyes began to shimmer in despair, knowing that, in her weakening condition, summoning fire again would be an impossibility, and so she could only lie there helplessly, in what she thought to be her last few seconds, as the wolfos brought its head back to dine.

Koume squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, but the wolfos's attack never came. Instead, she heard its bark cut short, and then heard it whimpering and shaking its head. The witch opened her eyes and brought down her arm to see the fairy holding the green funnel, the object she'd claimed to be a hat, tightly over the wolfos's snout, having slipped it over it to completely cover its nose and mouth. The fairy held it tightly, the wolfos shaking its head back and forth madly, Tatl right in front of its confused eyes.

Koume then began to back away on her arms, scooting away from the wolfos back towards the well-lit portion of the forest Link was battling in. She stopped though, when she realized that the fire and wolfos both posed a threat, and instead scooted up against the nearest tree, watching as the fairy wrestled to keep the hat over its snout as the wolfos tried break free. It did, eventually, the damp hat ripping open, the green shreds falling to the forest floor. Tatl sprung away from the wolfos immediately, backing away to be just beside Koume. The wolfos then looked at the two, teeth bared again, until bark popped from the orange fire raging passed the two potential meals; it then looked at the fire, whined, and then turned in the opposite direction, running away.

Link backed away from the two wolfos in front of him, sword and shield at the ready, ocarina on his belt, the fire beginning to spread behind the two monsters in front of him. They stared at each other for a few seconds, Link turning to look over at Koume when he heard her scream. He saw that she was now gone, Tatl by herself, and took a step to run in that direction, but one of the wolfos took this opportunity to jump at him. He dodged this, side-stepped a swing from its arm, and took a leap backwards to have enough room to block the second wolfos attacking him, using his shield. Link then instinctively brought his sword up and to the left, where he predicted the wolfos would jump after him; his prediction came true, and the blade dove into the under side of the wolfos. It fell to the ground, Link gripping his sword tightly, so as to not have it pulled away from him, less the wolfos run off with it still in its stomach. This pulled Link down onto the ground with the wolfos he'd stabbed, and the other one took full advantage of this.

Link brought his shield up to cover him, refusing to let go of his sword. The uninjured wolfos landed on top of him, the only thing separating their faces being Link's shield, its face raging with anger as it snapped its jaw, Link's with determination. Link held this position for several seconds, when a tree branch fell from the burning tree right behind them, crashing into the ground and sending smoke and a small burst of fire into the air. The wolfos on top of him instantly jumped off of Link and turned around to look at the fire, before running off into the other direction away from it.

Link then brought his shield down, panting heavily, and pulled his sword from the wolfos he had stabbed, who then stood up shakily and limped off away from him and the fire. Link didn't pause to wipe the blood off of his blade, keeping his sword and shield at the ready as he rounded the trees that had been separating him and Koume. He sighed with relief when he saw Koume, up against a tree, with Tatl floating beside her, no wolfos in sight; however, the relief was short lived. The purple fire, he thought, had only been coming from one direction. To his dismay, it had grown to such a large size since he had supposedly accidentally started it, that it now had branched off in two completely different directions, the separate paths of the purple fire now coming to meet where they were now. It was blazing just behind Koume and Tatl, the fairy having chosen to wait with the witch until he had returned.

Link put away his sword and shield quickly as he ran over to Koume, scooping her up in his arms again as Tatl followed. He ran passed the tree his bag and mask laid up against, disregarding it in the fire that was roaring all around them; the fairy, however, stopped following Link to quickly scoop the mask into the bag, grabbing its strap and continuing to fly with Link. However, she only flew a few feet before stopping, for Link had stopped too.

Just in front of them, was the orange fire Koume had started, having spread to encompass all of the trees in that direction. To the right of them was the purple fire he had just saved the witch from, it now in the spot where she had just been. To the left and behind them, the purple fire had also spread, licking madly as it continued its path destroying the entire forest, the two different purple forest fires now meeting behind them. All of the wolfos were gone, as the air was now heavy with smoke, cinders popping off of the trees into the grass as particles of burnt material floated around them. Link's lungs were on fire, his eyes water, and suddenly him, Koume, and Tatl, bag in hands, were huddled together in the very center of the spot in the forest the purple and orange were racing to meet, orange reflected in his eyes in front of him, purple warming his back. They were completed surrounded.

Suddenly, his chest began to sear with pain, as the fire continued to swirl around them, generating immense heat, the purple and orange seconds away from colliding in the exact spot they were. "You let me burn, Link...," Zelda's voice whispered to him distantly. "You left me behind, and now I'm burning."

"Zelda!" Link called out, his dry throat scratchily making a sound amidst the roar of intense burning. Koume was too busy staring at the fire in awe to notice him saying anything, but Tatl heard him say this and instantly understood what was happening, turning to face him as she clung to the bag tightly. The amount of grass separating them from the fire continued to diminish, the three in the eye of the two fires, surrounded by a blazing vortex.

"_Link! Don't do this to me now; get your ocarina out!_" Tatl screamed at him urgently.

"It's not my fault, Zelda; it's not my fault...," Link continued to say, regardless of what Tatl had said, tears beginning to feel his eyes, the only present moisture in the hurricane of multicolored fire.

"_Play the Song of Time; we can get out of here, it's not too late!_" Tatl pleaded, dropping the bag and flying to be face to face with him. He only looked at her with a distressed, saddened face, shaking his head slowly back and forth as he cried. "_Snap out of it! We don't have time for this; the fire IS going to roast us alive in the next twenty seconds if you don't get us out of here!_" Koume looked up at Link and Tatl as the fairy said this, trying her best to piece together what they were saying as their demise swirled around them.

"_It's not my fault!_" Link suddenly yelled at Tatl, causing the fairy to jump in shock. She did not, however, dare to back away, the heat of the fire behind her far too intense to dare to do so. A flaming piece of bark flew just by her and Link's head at that moment, disappearing into the purple flames just behind them. "_Stop trying to be Navi!_"

Tatl, then, felt herself beginning to fight back tears, as much from this remark as what appeared to be their death, as Link's face contorted into anger, his eyes suddenly glowing the dark purple she'd seen before. She gasped, the color beginning to frighten her, it alive in the fire just behind him; he suddenly dropped Koume completely, and the witch gasped in shock as she fell to his feet, only taking in dry air.

"No, no, no!" Tatl stammered as she looked down at his feet where Koume now was, noticing the grass underneath his boots beginning to sear at the edges, as if they were about to burst into flames. "_Please stop it right now!_" Tatl yelled at him. "_You're about to make us explode, right here before the two fires even reach us! Please, Link; snap out of it!_"

There was no reasoning him, though; the forest had once again played its tricks on him, at the worse possible timing. The emotional trauma this had caused him in return had triggered the dark magic in his wound, as it had last time; now, however, there was no where to run from his imminent explosion of purple of fire, for two different forest fires were now completely surrounding them, only feet away from consuming them all and merging. A purple flame curled from his clenched fists, and Tatl then went to be less than an inch from his face.

"_YOU ARE GOING TO STOP!_" Tatl screeched, instantly causing Link to focus his attention on her; the blades of grass underneath his boots stopped beginning to burn at the tips; Koume was merely huddled into a ball at Link's feet as she waited for it all to end. Tatl began what she knew would be her final attempt at snapping him out of his trance, all while the fire continued to dance and spin around them, thrusting upon them their heat and noise. "_You chose to leave Zelda behind to find Navi; YOU made that choice! And you DID find her, in me! You've completed your mission, Link; you found your Navi! Zelda and Hyrule are waiting for you whenever you want to go back to them; NOTHING is stopping you from going there! Don't blame me because I'm the only person that listens to you; you're here in Termina, for your own reason: to save all those people in Clock Town! You don't have to. You can go home; all you have to do is play the Song of Time right now and get us out of here!_"

Link's eyes slowly began to regain their blue color, Tatl calming down when she realized she had accomplished her mission. He found he could not support himself, however, falling to his knees, and stopping the rest of his body from collapsing by holding out his hands over Koume. He then picked them up and them in front of himself, wiping away the tears that had been there. Tatl came down and floated just in front of him. "I don't want to go home, Tatl," he answered, breathing in to continue, but finding there was no air. He stopped, his mouth wide open, suffocating in the circle of fire, only able to swallow smoke. His eyes watered as he tried a few more times to find air, but could not.

Link hastily pulled the ocarina out of his pocket and put it to his mouth, trying more to breathe in, but failing as he had before. He then dropped the ocarina and lay on the ground beside Koume, whose back was facing him, Tatl sadly coming down to rest just beside his head, the intense ball of heat surrounding them now causing consciousness to fade.

The most revealing thing he could have possibly imagined then occurred: a burst of ice cold air directly onto his face, instantly allowing him to take great gulps of the chilled air, though shocking his body with the sudden temperature change. He shuttered, trying his best to keep his eyes open as the cold air suddenly began to grow and expand. Suddenly, his heated body was cooled rapidly, Tatl and Koume also looking up, confused at what was happening. They began to rise from the crisp, dry grass underneath them to sitting up positions, seeing the cold air swish around them in a tornado. The tornado of cool air began to expand, driving away the purple and orange flames alike, spinning them around and causing them to clash with one another, the thick, bright line of purple and orange spinning around them but not affecting them, due to the barrier of cool.

As the flames were driven away, someone familiar to all of them descended into the forest on a broom stick, moving her arms around her in the manner the cold air was, the blue gem on her ancient forehead glowing brilliantly. Kotake continued to lower towards the forest floor as she manipulated the flames with the cool air, eyes closed in concentration. Her feet then touched the now chilled forest floor, the grass having first been robbed of all moisture and then practically frozen. Link found himself shivering as all of the heat was taken from his body, and he never thought he could have gone from being so hot so quickly. Koume smiled as her sister stepped off of the broom and tossed it aside, eyes still closed and her hands still manipulating the flames; Link and Tatl merely stared at her with expressions of complete stupidity.

Once her broom was tossed aside, her eyes opened and her hands stopped swirling in circles, instead being pushed outward. The cold air responded, more bursts coming from Kotake and adding with the air that had been spinning, now all of it going outwards into the fire, further driving it backwards. The air seemed to carry heavy amounts of frost in it, it easily being seen given the white color; more of it continued to come from Kotake, the witch manipulating it to push back any flame that threatened to burst forth. The orange fire disappeared entirely; the purple one was far too large and massive to clear from this position. Kotake controlled the icy air until the purple flames were far away from them, taking this to be enough when she closed her eyes, sighed, and brought her hands down.

Silence then followed, Kotake not saying anything as Link and Tatl continued to sit there stupidly, now freezing cold in the forest night. Koume broke the silence by bursting out laughing, and Kotake soon joined her. The witch with the blue gem reached into her robe to pull out a bottle of some sort of potion as she and her sister continued to laugh, tossing the bottle over to Koume. She somehow managed to pick it up, remove the cork, and drink it as she lied on the floor and continued to laugh uncontrollably. Link and Tatl shared a glance of confusion at their laughter, and then turned back to look at the two obviously insane, but very powerful, witches.

"That's good stuff!" Koume exclaimed as she stopped laughing and brought the bottle away from her lips. She jumped to her feet, the pain in her side already forgotten; Koume then unexpectedly turned to her still smiling sister. "What took you so long, you lazy bastard! I was almost eaten by wolfos and fried!"

"Lazy bastard... me?" Kotake retaliated, her smile fading quickly. "I sent those two idiots to find you; I didn't realize all they were going to do was take a whole day to get you killed!"

"_They_ saved my life!" Koume said in defense of them, though not even turning to look or point at them. "If it hadn't been for them, I would have been wolfos chow long before you came!"

"Yeah, and if it hadn't been for me, all three of you would have died right here, burnt alive!" exclaimed Kotake.

"Well, if it _had_ of been for you, I wouldn't have been in the forest in the first place! Whose idea was it for me to go mushroom picking, when it was _obviously_ your turn?"

"_My_ turn?" Kotake exclaimed furiously. "I had it marked on my calendar; it specifically said, 'Koume's turn'."

"Who gives a damn about _your_ calendar? _My_ calendar specifically said you were supposed to do it!"

Link and Tatl turned to face each other once again, Link shaking his head. "Okay," Tatl began, as the two witches continued to bicker in the cold aftermath of the fire, "not even _I'm_ that bad."


	13. Poisoned Swamp

Note: ... Not quite a month? Now it's summer, though, so there shouldn't be near as much space between chapters. Also, I've been trying to make sure I respond to every review submitted to my story, and I usually do so just before I post the next chapter... so if anyone hasn't gotten a response to their review, and the next chapter has already been posted, just let me know. And, once again, a reminder that every scene regarding Link's days in Hyrule does have some importance regarding events that have yet to happen.

* * *

_Chapter 13: Poisoned Swamp_

"What was it that you were going to say?" Tatl asked, turning to look at Link beside her, who was gloomily eying the ground as they continued through the forest. Koume was walking ahead of them, using the fire in her palm to light the way, the night no longer young and the darkness heavy. The three had progressed quite a long way since they had found their selves trapped in the forest fires, Kotake having stayed behind in an attempt to contain the dark fire, to at least some extent. They were now going back to the swamp, with no real objective other than to recuperate from the dramas of their journey through the Woods of Mystery. They'd accomplished their task: saving Koume, but they'd never crossed the border, as Link had hoped they would. "Before you lost your breath in the fire?"

He looked up from the grassy, root infested floor to see her floating at the same pace he was, his dark blue eyes hard to see in the nighttime veil, his blonde hair now hardly damp, almost finished drying. "I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't going to leave," Link explained. "It wasn't the fact that you comforted me into knowing I could leave that brought me ought of, er... whatever trance I was in; I think you got to me because I realized that wasn't what I really wanted. So, that's about all I wanted to say, that I didn't want to go home... just yet."

"That's touchy and all," Koume began, talking to them without facing them, the small orange flames in her palms causing light and shadows to dance wildly around them, "but I think the more important matter to discuss is this so called 'trance' itself. You're the one who started the forest fire, aren't you?" Link didn't answer, having hoped she would not have found this out; while the fire hadn't ended up killing them, it had come fairly close to it, and had probably destroyed some of their precious mushroom cultivations. He furrowed his brow trying to come up with a response, but Koume chuckled before he came up with one. "Don't worry, I'm not going to shoot fire at you; Kotake's the one who would toss you into the poison water if she'd found out what you'd done. She's not exactly the understanding one of the two of us."

"Well then, if you already knew Link started the fire," Tatl began, still just beside him and talking to the witch's back, "why did you want to talk about this trance?"

"I want to know what it was," Koume explained. "I want to make sure my hut isn't going to burst into flames in the middle of the night, or that you aren't going to randomly attack me with dark magic. This condition you have... it seems to be very dark stuff. Do you have any idea what may have caused this?"

When Koume looked over her shoulder for an answer, not slowing her pace, Link turned to  
Tatl, as if wondering if she thought it would be a good idea to answer. The fairy merely shrugged, and then he gulped, turning to her as he remembered what Kotake's reaction had been. "We think it was Majora's Mask."

Koume stopped walking, and Link made sure to stop as well, remaining the same distance behind her, as the flames in the witch's hand remained at the same steady height, the witch now staring into them, eyes wide. "Majora's Mask?" she inquired distantly, still not facing them.

"Yes," Link answered, nervously watching her back. "A mask salesman said that the Skull Kid was wearing it, and that it was where he got his powers from. The Skull Kid struck me with some sort of purple lightning when I tried to get the mask from him... ever since then, the scar it left has been doing weird things, and I think it's the reason I set the forest on fire and almost killed us." When she still did not turn around or respond, Link stammered before adding more, "Kotake is the reason the wound didn't kill me; she told me it had dark magic though, and that she didn't know what its effects on me would be."

"Did you tell her that you thought Majora's Mask was responsible?" Koume asked immediately after he said this.

"Yeah...," Link said uneasily, Tatl looking between the two wearily the entire conversation. "She got pretty upset when I mentioned it; a little bit of an overreaction..."

"_Overreaction?_" Koume exclaimed, spinning around and throwing her arms down, fire erupting around her in a wide circle, coming within a few inches of hitting Link and the trees surrounding them. He cowered away from it and covered his face, the heat of it intense, but it was quickly gone, having faded away, the three of them now in almost complete darkness. Koume was still facing them, now angry. "_You don't understand what that would mean if it were true; you can't toss the name 'Majora' around as if you're having polite conversation at tea time!_"

"Then can you please _help_ me to understand what exactly Majora means?" Link retaliated, suddenly infuriated, taking a step closer to the witch, who seemed shocked he'd responded. "Your sister did the same thing and refused to talk about it! What would you do if Majora's Mask really _did_ come back, huh? You'd never know it had, because you'd be too afraid to talk about it!"

This time it was Koume's turn to be silent, and to think about a response. The silence stretched for what seemed like a long time, the only noise being the forest creatures noisly celebrating the night. Eventually, Koume scoffed, shaking her head as she turned around, held out her palm, and created another small flame to light the way. She began to continue walking, turning to motion Link and Tatl to follow. They glanced at each other before they did, following closer behind this time.

"Majora's Mask corrupted an entire tribe of our kind, long, long ago," Koume explained, the woods standing tall and dark around them, as Link and Tatl listened to her explanation, looking into the fire as she did so, their journey to the swamp continuing. "They'd done things... terrible things, to awaken the spirit that would possess it, hoping to use its powers to get greater influence amongst the tribes. But... the mask didn't just bend to their will; it influenced them, and corrupted them, and got them to follow _its_ will. The tribe, behind secret walls, did terrible things under the influence of the mask, killing and torturing, slowly expanding its territories, no one on the outside understanding what was happening on the in. It wasn't until they had formed an army, and attacked, that the other tribes understood what was happening."

Koume sighed as she continued, looking up into the dark sky instead of the fire just in front of her as she went on. "The war could not have been darker; it's why our existence as a people is so scattered and small now. So many people died, and it didn't take long before those still not under its influence realized the mask wanted nothing short of annihilation of all life. Those still remaining formed a small resistance, and when we found a window of opportunity, we held a meeting to decide our plan of attack. Most wanted to seal the mask away into the farthest realm we could reach, rather than breaking it and risking releasing the spirit. Only a few opposed it, and if I had been alive then, I would have myself. The mask had to be destroyed, but they were too afraid to try to. If what you say is true, then there could only be one explanation: it broke out of that realm and wants to continue its mission."

Their walk hung in silence, the fire continuing to crackle and light the way, their footsteps shuffling against the grass. The trees had begun to thin, the end of the forest now near. "The mask's magic, its power, its influence... goes beyond the one who wears it," Koume explained. "I fear it has found a home in your scar, and will only continue to grow stronger inside of you the longer you live."

"What do you mean by the longer he lives?" Tatl questioned skeptically, having dismissed the rest of her statement.

"I mean that, if you ever want to rid the world of Majora's influence forever, _if_ it really is Majora's Mask the Skull Kid is wearing, your friend must die, less Majora return through him once the Skull Kid is disposed of." The witch turned around to face them, one eyebrow raised as she examined their reactions. "I only say this because we never found a way to reverse its corruption. Once one had been infected, it didn't stop."

"We _have_ found a way to reverse it, though," Link said hopefully when the witch had added this last bit, pulling out his ocarina. Koume stopped and turned around interestingly when he said this, and Link held it up in the fire light. He'd opened his mouth to explain, but he closed it when he saw the black mark burnt into the clay instrument. His hopefulness instantly drained away as he looked down on it in dismay, the witch looking up from the ocarina with a look of puzzlement.

"Is that another mark from the Skull Kid?" Link didn't answer, and Koume shook her head, turning around and continuing their walk.

"It still works, though!" Tatl exclaimed, after noticing the hopelessness that had descended upon Link.

"Works? Serenading the mask won't stop it," Koume jeered skeptically.

"No, it can take us back in time," Tatl explained, looking at Link to see if he agreed with revealing this to Koume; however, he had gone back to sulking. The fairy then turned back to the witch that was not facing her eagerly. "Every time Link plays the Song of Time, we appear in Clock Town, everything as it was when we first came here two days ago. Tomorrow... is the day when the moon crashes into the town and destroys Termina; we've been reliving the same three days trying to find a way to stop it. And the Skull Kid, and everyone else, doesn't remember anything that happened on the previous three day cycle. It's a blank slate to begin again, every single time!"

The witch, however, didn't seem to be phased by this. "_Sure_. A time traveling ocarina; now I've heard everything. Even if your claim was true, it doesn't matter; even if you could relive the same three days over and over again, it wouldn't help you stop the mask."

"Yeah..., but that gives us an infinite amount of time to find a way! You... you and Kotake could help us; I'm not sure if me and Link could do it alone. I mean, you two have your fire and ice powers; Link only has his sword and ocarina. If you came with us, then you wouldn't have to be crushed by the moon tomorrow, and we could all try to stop the Skull Kid together."

"Firstly," Koume began, "there's no reason for me to believe your time travel scheme is even possible. Secondly, we have yet to establish for a fact that the Skull Kid is wearing the Majora's Mask. Lastly, why would you think the moon would crash into the town?"

"Because the Skull Kid's controlling it!" Tatl pleaded. "Come on; are you and your sister's heads _both_ filled with saw dust?"

Koume merely sighed at this once again, "I'll talk to Kotake. But I won't make any promises."

This resulted in yet another lack of conversation amongst them, each entitled to their own train of thought. Link was the one who spoke his first, having been silent ever since he'd seen the mark on the ocarina. "I saw through the Skull Kid again."

"What?" Tatl asked, having been abruptly brought out of what she was thinking about.

"When I set the forest on fire the first time, I saw through him," Link explained. "Remember?"

"Yeah..."

"It happened again. You brought me out of the vision before I could finish it though."

"Okay; what is it that the Skull Kid is up to now?" Tatl asked, wondering if she even really wanted to know the unspeakable horrors that had been witnessed.

"He was still trying to kill all of the people at the fortress," Link explained. "The ones who survived his initial attack managed to form up some kind of resistance, but they're still losing. And the Skull Kid is still laughing, as if it's some kind of game." Link spotted the witches' hut after he said this, it still standing up in the middle of the pond, the thin waterfall still cascading behind it, and the swamp still emptying through a waterway that snaked off into the distance.

"Home," Koume said, putting her arm down and letting the fire that had been in her palm vanish. "I could do with a good night's rest right about now. You two are welcome to stay the night, as long as you don't burn the hut down."

"We would be honored... as long as Kotake keeps her distance from me," Tatl added, glaring at the thought of what she thought to be the 'stupid old hag'.

* * *

The light gray stone at the bottom of the fountain was a wavy image underneath the clear water filling it. His blue eyes were also distorted, reflecting back upon his own face as they shimmered across the small waves. Link continued to look at himself thoughtfully, in the Hylian robes he wore, the fountain head releasing water gently into the pool he gazed into. A stone representation of the Triforce was at the top, the water falling gracefully on either side of it.

"You really are leaving, aren't you?" Zelda, the young princess, asked from behind him, looking sadly at the boy standing by the fountain's edge. They stood in one of the castle's courtyards, grass underneath their shoes, an open, stone hallway surrounding them. The sky had been left in the early stages of darkness, the sun having left not but seconds ago.

Link, still leaning against the edge of the fountain and peering into the water, replied emotionlessly, "I have to find her."

"But where are you even going to look?" Zelda took a few steps closer towards him, in one of her casual dresses she wore around the castle; her blue eyes looked at his turned head pleadingly. "You don't have to go. Maybe, she left because she had to. Maybe.."

"I didn't expect you to understand," Link responded, sighing and looking away from the fountain, but still facing away from Zelda.

"You haven't helped me try to understand. This idea came out of no where; you seemed happy here, with us, and I thought you'd forgotten the fairy who left you behind, and now suddenly you want to find her."

"I never forgot about her," Link corrected Zelda, finally turning around to face her. "I just thought I could pretend I had, but I can't. She... left me, and I don't understand why."

Zelda didn't respond immediately when Link turned away from her yet again, looking at the fountain as if _it_ would help him. The two of them were by their selves, the sky growing darker rapidly, the moon still no where in sight. She took a deep breath, pushing a strand of blonde hair that had blown into her face behind her ear. "Maybe that's a question you're supposed to answer on your own, without having to find Navi."

"Enough with all of your '_maybe_'s!" Link suddenly exclaimed, turning around to face her yet again, this time angry. "I can't go the rest of my life without knowing for sure; Navi meant more to me than I could ever explain to anyone! I thought she was my guardian fairy, and then she just left, right after we'd done what the Deku Tree had asked us too. I have to know... if there was nothing, if she never really did care..." He trailed off, turning away again with a look of puzzlement on his face. "She... never did..."

"_Link_," Zelda said, taking a step closer, almost right behind him.

"I was just her tool... she was never my guardian fairy... I was nothing to her..." He realized his eyes were beginning to water, but no tears had yet left them, and he began to quickly rub his eyes, suddenly furious. "What is wrong with me?" he yelled at the grass in front of him, to himself, rather than to the princess behind him. "I don't want to care about her; why can't I stop caring about her?"

"Link," Zelda said again, taking one more step closer to him, and then grabbing his hand, his arm having been raised in anger. It was as if a light had suddenly clicked on in his head, as if she'd pulled him out of trance, and he turned around to look over his shoulder at her, eyes shining, not taking his hand away. They looked at each other for a moment, Link confused and Zelda trying her best to console him, neither breaking eye contact. Then, she let go of his hand and got even closer, moving hers onto his shoulder. Link looked down at her, being barely taller, still looking as if he was half-awake, and then Zelda threw her arms around him and pulled herself close, hugging him.

Link, slowly and tentatively, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, the two now embracing each other, heads resting side by side. "I don't want to leave you," Link said distantly. "I'm in love with you, Zelda, you come first... but..."

"I know," Zelda interrupted, sparing him the explanation. "Just go Link; go and find her, and you can come back when you have your answers."

"But I thought?..." Link inquired, pulling his head back to look at her eye to eye, though neither letting go.

"Don't worry about that," she reassured him. "I just didn't understand. But if it means this much to you, then you _should_..." She paused, searching for words and looking to the side.

Link smiled at this gesture, and Zelda looked up, confused. "What?"

"I love you."

And then they kissed, the sky now in complete darkness, the water of the fountain still rushing behind them.

* * *

"Link!" Tatl's voice startled him, and Link's eyes popped open. "Are you gonna sleep all day? Come on and get up; we have visitors!" He lifted his blonde head from his pillow, throwing the blanket off of him and turning onto his side, moaning as he tried to piece his mind together. He was still in Koume and Kotake's hut, except Kotake was the only one here, behind her counter brewing potions again. Link had had to sleep on the floor in front of the counter rather than where he had last time, a third bed not having been present. "Link, we can't waste time today; we only have maybe twenty-three hours before we have to go back in time again!"

"Alright," Link moaned, getting to his feet as he yawned. He had never removed his tunic the night before, having only taken off his boots, sword, shield, and bag, and now walked over to his small pile of his stuff, beginning to put it all back on, his eyes blinking heavily. He had already attached his scabbard, when he suddenly turned to face the fairy, just realizing something. "What do you mean, visitors?"

"The monkeys," Tatl said. "They want to talk to you."

Link then turned back to what he was doing, hesitating before deciding it would be best to keep the bag with the Deku mask on him. He then went back to where his stuff was, as if looking for something else. Link began to search the portion of the hut in front of the corner for something, Tatl confused. "Are you... looking for something?" she asked. "You didn't lose the ocarina again, did you?"

"No, I just can't find..." he trailed off, walking behind the counter, and stopping once he saw the large heaps of clutter he had forgotten were there.

Kotake looked up from her cauldron, glaring at him in irritation. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for my hat," Link said.

"Well, you won't find it back here; get!" she shook the wooden spoon in her hand angrily at him, flinging red goop on his shoulder. Link disgustedly rubbed it off and then went back to look around in the other half of the building.

"I can't find it; I don't know...," he trailed off, though, stopping when he realized Tatl was staring at him. "What?"

"Link... your hat is gone."

"What do you mean?" Link asked, shaking his head as if the notion was ridiculous.

"I used it to stop the wolfos from eating Koume," Tatl explained. "It was ripped open."

Link looked away from her after she said this, as if not quite being able to comprehend it. "It's..."

"Link, I'm sorry, but if I hadn't of..."

"It's okay, Tatl," Link quickly said, shaking his head, this time in dismissal of his hat. "Let's just talk to the monkeys."  
"Okay," Tatl said unsurely, as Link opened the door of the hut.

The small white creatures from earlier, all three of them, were seen just outside of the door on the raised platform, patiently staring up at Link, as if having anticipating him coming out. Link stopped as soon as he opened the door, feeling uneasy at the way they were looking up at him. "Um...," he stammered. "Hi?"

The three monkeys looked at one another after he said this, and then the middle one stepped forward, Link letting go of the doorknob to the hut and stepping out onto the porch, the sun just rising, the sky orange. "You have strange powers, no? Me been watching you! Lately, this swamp, been filled with poison water!"

"Temple above waterfall strange... Brother go to temple," added the other one eagerly, stepping forward to jump next the one who had stepped forward first; however, this action only caused the third monkey to do the same thing and add something of his own.

"But brother no able to find temple entrance. Temple for Deku only. Brother captured by Deku. Now in palace."

"Help!" the first one finally added, as if hoping this one word would suffice as to how he related to all of this.

"Help... your brother?" Link inquired, holding his hand up to shield his eyes from the fierce glare of the sun coming from his right.

"Deku execute him!" the middle monkey exclaimed eagerly. "Need help!"

Tatl, hearing their conversation, flew out of the hut beside Link, lowering herself so that his blonde head blocked out the sun for her; after watching her join him, Link turned back to face the monkeys, "So you're... brother... went to a temple above a waterfall, because the swamp was poisoned, and then he was arrested by Deku scrubs?"

"Going be executed!" the monkey on the left pleaded.

"He speaks true!" the third monkey added, nodding his head dramatically.

"What he be do that so bad?" Tatl asked, mimicking their poor grammar of the monkeys as she did so.

"We no know," the middle monkey then added, much less enthusiastic this time than in his previous replies. "Only Deku go in palace; you kill them and go in!"

"Woah! Kill them?" Tatl exclaimed. "We're not mercenaries, or the type to go in and slaughter an entire palace of Deku scrubs."

"But brother need help!" the monkey pleaded one last time.

Tatl then turned to face Link, whispering, "I'm starting to think we should just force Koume and Kotake to come back in time with us. We can talk to the mask salesman, get all of our answers, and then all four of us could go take out the Skull Kid."

"I don't know if they'll be able to stop him," Link added, turning to face her, dropping his hand now that the sun was behind him. "He took out an entire fortress of pirates."

"Yeah, but none of the pirates could shoot fire or ice out of their hands, could they?" Tatl added.

"The Skull Kid summoned the moon to crash into Clock Town, Tatl," Link reminded her gravely. "Something tells me shooting lightning at people is only a fraction of his power."

"What do you think these four we're supposed to find are going to be able to do? Call me crazy, but something tells me they won't be able to create lightning, summon the moon, _or_ shoot fire and ice out of their hands. Besides, how do we even know Tael knew what he was talking about?"

Link sighed at this, looking back down at the monkeys and then back up at Tatl. "Are you really going to just let their brother die?" he asked.

"Here we go again, Link," Tatl said, her talking not longer resembling a whisper. "Anytime I start making more sense than you do, you have to play the morality card on me. Besides, as I've pointed out numerous times, once we play the Song of Time, it will be as if we never helped the monkey, and he'll be executed."

"If I'd listened to you the first time you said that, we would have never found Koume."

Tatl stopped to ponder this for a second. "Touché," she finally replied.

"Besides, I think Tael knew what he was saying; he _was_ with the Skull Kid for the full three days. Poking around the swamp is the best way to find out anything about 'the four'."

"Okay, okay, we'll help the monkeys," Tatl said. "... under two conditions, though. Promise me we won't slaughter the entire palace of Deku scrubs, and that we won't go into whatever temple they were talking about. I hate temples; buildings built to worship spirits are never too kind to their visitors."

"Alright, Tatl," Link agreed. "We won't slaughter Deku scrubs or worship spirits."

"Thank Din!" Tatl exclaimed, turning to look at the monkeys now that her conversation with Link was done, the monkeys looking up at her in confusion. "Uh...," she stammered, noting all of their eyes staring up at her, "please disregard the irony in me thanking a spirit right after I bashed temples."

The monkeys were unphased by this, however. "Help brother?" the middle monkey asked hopefully in its high-pitched voice, eyes wide.

"Fine," Tatl sighed. "We help brother." A wide grin spread across the monkey's face, his mouth wide with joy, and the three monkeys began to turn to exchange glances with one another as they jumped up and down in jubilance. "Woah, don't get too excited now." The monkeys paid no attention to Tatl, though, and then they began to file one by one down the ladder back into the pool of water surrounding the platform's legs, then running off into the forest without another word. "Hey... wait! Where's the Deku Palace? How're we supposed to get in? ... Well, isn't that just great! Not even a thank you!"

"We could always just ask Kotake," Link suggested, turning around and walking through the open door of the hut.

"Oh, yeah," Tatl said. "_... Stupid old hag_..."

"I heard that!" Kotake, blue gem still encrusted into her forehead, shouted from behind the counter as they went inside.

"How?"

"By actually listening," she said, dropping a pot on the floor and beginning to messily dig through another pile of utensils, rather than turning to greet or face them. "You can't get to the Deku Palace."

"Listening?" Tatl exclaimed. "More like stalking!"

"You're on _my_ front porch," Kotake snapped back, looking up at the fairy to deliver this comeback.

"What do you mean, we can't get there?" Link asked, ignoring the bickering all too common between the two.

"I mean, unless you can swim through water that'll burn your skin to a dry crisp, you can't reach the palace. Either learn to walk on water, fly, or live without skin."

"... Can we not take a boat?" he suggested, raising his eyebrows in slight confusion.

Kotake stopped rummaging through pots and looked up at him, as if completely dumbfounded. "Yeah... I guess you can do that." She then returned to looking for whatever it was she couldn't find. "Do you have a boat?"

"Yeah, we always carry one around in his bag," Tatl remarked, "you know, just in case we ever come across the all-to-common swamps filled with mystically poisonous water."

"No need to be a smart ass," Kotake said, finally pulling out an empty cauldron and putting it on the counter. "I'm sure Koume would be more than happy to give you a free boat ride after you... 'saved her'...; you remember the hut you fainted on after getting attacked by a wolfos?"

"... Yeah," Link said, made uneasily.

"That's where you'll find her."

"Where exactly is that?"

"_Do I look like your slave?_" Kotake suddenly exclaimed, lifting her cauldron and then slamming it down onto the counter again. "I've healed you, fed you last night and before you went to fnid my sister, and gone into the forest to save you after you set the whole thing on fire! I'm not helping you any longer!"

"Like we'd want to ask _you_ for help anyways," Tatl snapped. "Come on, Link, let's get out of here."

"Are you alright?" Link asked, ignoring his fairy yet again.

"I'm fine," Kotake spat, looking away from them at the floor. "You two just showed up, and suddenly..." She didn't finish.

"We'll come back when we've hit another dead end," Link said, when she didn't continue. "You could help us bring all of this to an end if you come with us back to the first day."

"I don't want to talk about that right now," Kotake said. "Take your crazy time traveling, Majora's Mask theories and get out!"

Link didn't bother to say anymore, and turned to leave the hut let again, Tatl eagerly following him. Soon they were down the ladder and following alongside the water that was bordered by tree lines on each bank, leaving the small pond with the tall hut in it beside. The sky was still orange, the sun barely peeking over the trees, the sky clear.

"I can't stand that woman!" Tatl exclaimed once they were safe distant away. "Not only is she crazy and evil, but she's totally stalking us!"

"I think she's just a little upset; I mean, she's probably lived here for years and years, and nothing has changed. To suddenly bring news of an all powerful, dark deity returning from another realm would be enough to make anyone crazy."

"... You always have to try and look at things positively, don't you, Link?" Link shrugged, smiling slightly as always at her sarcasm, trying his best to not touch the clear water on his right as they followed the left bank; there was hardly in grass in between the water and trees for him to walk on. "You're sure you're okay about losing your hat?"

"Of course," Link said, looking up at her with one eyebrow raised. "It's just a hat."

"Yeah, but it seemed like a part of your identity," Tatl explained. "I mean, I'm not saying you look weird without it; you've got the whole rebellious, short, untidy hair thing going on, but I guess that's just because you haven't been to a barber anytime recently. To be honest, you looked like a dweeb with your pointy green hat all the time, but still. How long have you worn it?"

"Actually," Link said, looking up as he struggled to remember. "I'm not sure. When I was seven or eight I got my first one, but I lost it when me and Saria went into the woods one time. I got another one after that, so... maybe ever since then?"

"Woah, hold on a second.. into the woods with Saria?" Tatl asked, smiling. "What happened to Zelda?"

"That was before I met Zelda!" Link exclaimed, stopping and turning to face her, his face slightly red. "Besides, we were just playing... as friends."

"Mhm, sure... 'as friends'." Link shook his head, looking back and forth at the two different paths the swamp's water took, eventually turning left since he didn't feel like risking wading through the water to get to the other bank. "Anywho, you really should change up your wardrobe sometime; wearing a green hat tunic sounds like it gets old eventually."

"I don't always wear this," Link said. "I had three different colored tunics; this one, and a red and blue one."

"How original," Tatl said sarcastically.

"You don't ever wear any clothes, Tatl," Link pointed out.

"They don't exactly make clothes my size," Tatl said. "I prefer my bright ball of light."

Link and Tatl stopped, however, when the bank they were on ended. The grass gave way to a vertical rock face; he could either turn back into the forest or step into the pool of water the bank ended at. Besides the way he'd come from, there was only one other way forward: a cave in the rock face that encircled the pond they found, but the base of the cave was completely submerged in water. He would have to dive in and swim, but due to the condition of the water, he didn't think that to be a possibility; large, red mushrooms bloomed in the middle of the water near the cave entrance in addition to a floating, dead tree trunk, all of which could possibly serve as stepping stones, but they were too far away, the purple water too big of a gap to cross. Link had been afraid to touch the water he'd been walking beside out of fear that the poisionous water might not look any different from the regular, but this discovery told him the other water had been safe. It was a dark purple color, the water eerily still, no ripples seen, as if there were a certain heaviness to it.

"Hm... I'm guessing you're not going to swim through that?" Tatl inquired.

"Uh... no. But you can if you want to."

"I'm going to _fly_ across it, through that cave and see what's on the other side," the fairy proposed. "You know, just in case the palace or Koume's boat place is over there." She then flew off, leaving Link standing by himself on the bank. He looked across the surface of the water, as if searching for some sign of life, shocking himself when he actually found one. From underneath the purple water, Link could only make out a dark blob, but it was large, passing by near Link's position slowly and ominously. He gulped, looking up when he saw Tatl flying towards him.

"It's the palace!" Tatl exclaimed happily.

"Good job, Tatl," Link replied, shaking his head of any thoughts regarding the creature he'd seen in the water. "Any sign of Koume?"

"No; we should probably follow the path we didn't take earlier," she suggested. "That'd be our best bet."

"You don't remember where the boating place is at all, Tatl?" Link asked as they turned to go backwards, leaving the purple water behind and now bordering the normal water. "Weren't you to one who went to get Kotake when I passed out?"

"Yeah, but... I was kind of freaking out the entire time. I wasn't sure if you were dead or unconscious at the time."

They eventually came to the end of their side of the bank, where they would have to get into the water to cross, and he did, only fearful of his legs on the initial contact with the clear water. His skin didn't burn however, confirming that it was only the purple water that burnt, and Link went deeper into the water, his boots leading the way. The water ended up only coming to his neck, and he held his bare head and bag above the water, treading to the other side and climbing out, his tunic soaking wet again as he let the bag fall back to his side.

"It really must suck not being a fairy," Tatl commented as Link began to walk onwards, now uncomfortable again in damp clothing. "You know, having to actually walk, and eat food everyday."

"At least they make clothes my size," Link remarked, as the forest on their right gave way to a small field of grass. Link happily walked out onto it, recognizing this as the area he'd been in when the wolfos had attacked him. The wooden pier was still there, leading out to the building on the raised platform. The ladder that had been there, however, was no longer there; it still remained destroyed, a few of its pieces on the pier, the rest lost a while ago in the water. "... But it would be nice to fly."

He walked towards the pier regardless, Tatl following close by his side. They stopped when they were on the wooden deck, looking up to see the platform above them. "Hello?" Link called up, hoping someone was home. There was no answer, and Link turned to look at Tatl.

"Fine, pathetic human, I will fly up there to see if anyone can help." Link waited once again, looking up to see her disappear from view. It wasn't long before someone peered over the edge of the platform to see him; it was a man with a familiar face and a massive, thick black beard. He was rather large, with strong muscular arms and a fat stomach, and it only took Link a few seconds to realize he was the man who had stumbled out of the hut to find him collapsed at his doorstep as a Deku Scrub.

"You need to see Koume, eh?" he asked, in an odd accent unfamiliar to Link. Tatl flew up just beside the man, the two looking down at him waiting for an answer.

"Yes," Link responded. "Is there... anyway I can get up there?"

"Yeah," the large man responded, disappearing for a moment, only to return with something in his arms. He tossed it over the edge, the rope ladder unraveling to land just at the pier in front of him. The man wasn't holding the other end, so Link assumed it was posted or nailed down on the top of the platform. He grabbed onto the ladder, it swinging back and forth as he climbed it. "We have to roll it up now, so we don't have wolfos tearing it to pieces anymore. Just the other day, we had a Deku scrub running up trying to get away from one; the poor thing probably died, unless Kotake found a way to heal it."

"Darn those pesky Deku scrubs," Link heard Tatl say from up above. He climbed up onto the platform and then looked up at the man who had let down the ladder as he got to his feet.

"I'm the guide for this tourist center; Koume deals with the boat rides," he said, bending down to scoop back up the ladder. "You can go on in and talk to her about it, mate."

"Thanks," Link said, as he walked by him and entered the hut. It was about the same size as Kotake's, except the counter was just in front of the left wall, rather than marking a halfway point in the middle. An open window showing to a backroom was on the back wall, Koume with her head in her hand, elbow propped up on the seal. She looked up when the two of them entered the room.

"Look who it is!" Koume exclaimed at the sight of Link. "Come over here and we'll talk about the boat ride your fairy mentioned; I owe you one after you... well, I wouldn't say saved, but _found_ me in the forest."

"The boat goes passed the Deku Palace then?" Link asked, as he approached the window.

"Of course it does," Koume answered. She then bent down out of sight and returned with something in her hands. "But before you go, I'm required to give you this." The witch with the red gem in her forehead placed a large wooden box on the window seal; it was thick, with a large cylinder that had a lense on the end protruding out of one side.

"What is it?" Tatl asked, as Link picked it up and turned it over.

"A pictograph box," Koume explained. "You see, this building is the Swamp Tourist Center, and we like to do something different each week. Usually this is when we have the most tourists, so we hosted a photograph contest... but, seeing how the moon is all scary looking and there are monsters everywhere, our plan kind of failed. You're our first participant."

"I don't know," Link said, not envying the great weight and bulkiness in his bag. "I kind of have to carry everything with me, and we're going to be traveling a lot..."

"I insist, though," Koume said. "It'll make up for you burning down half the forest and almost killing us. I have hundreds of these things in the back." Tatl almost spoke out against this, but the witch continued before they could. "Go outside and ask the fat guy to set the boat up for you; you'll be steering it on your own."

* * *

Link pulled the paddles back towards him, the boat gliding along the surface of the water smoothly. The sun had hardly made any progression since its sunrise, the sky still clear; Link, however, found himself staring at the moon. It was facing the swamp, its large eyes, the eyes of the mask, baring down on him as it appeared they had been in Clock Town. He wondered if those eyes defied even time, as if it could see passed their three day cycle the ocarina gave them as if it were an illusion, even if the Skull Kid couldn't. It was so close, and it had already made the clock tower fall twice before; he realized the devastation it would cause would be nothing compared to the pirates. Everyone he'd ever interacted with in his time in Termina, dead, the eyes showing no remorse, only ever staring, with some great dark wisdom behind its cold demeanor...

"Link, are you gonig to steer the boat?" Tatl asked. Link turned away from the moon, blinking the trance away and realizing he'd been drifting slowly towards the bank. He used the paddles to redirect the boat to follow the swampy stream, leaving the large area of water surrounding the hut behind. The boat was rather small in width, hardly large enough for two people, but the wooden vessel was long and perfect for him and Tatl, the fairy able to fly alongside as he pushed the boat towards the poisonous waters he knew were ahead.

"Sorry about that," Link said as he continued to paddle. "I just... can't help but think of the Skull Kid's mask every time I look at the moon."

"Yeah... I can hardly tell the difference between the two," she commented sarcastically.

"So, this might be a good time to tell you that I think I saw some kind of massive creature swimming around in the pool we're going towards."

"What do you mean... massive creature?" Tatl said, instantly turning away from the moon to look at him.

"It might be friendly..."

"Yeah, because we have a lot of luck running across friendly creatures."

"It might not even be there anymore," Link reasoned. "I just told you so you'd be prepared."

"Thanks Link; glad I can always count on you for a heads up."

Link made sure to be prepared himself, keeping all of his equipment on person as he continued to row. It wasn't long at all before the large pool surrounded by the rock face was in view, the forest on either side disappearing for the time being. Link pulled the paddles back towards him one more time, and then the boat was propelled over the purple surface of the still water. Link feared for only a moment that the water might disintegrate even the boat, but it didn't, its wooden material obviously not nearly as vulnerable as human skin.

"The water doesn't hurt wood at all...," Link said vaguely as he looked at the thick surface of the water they glided smoothly across. His right hand suddenly screamed in pain though, interrupting his thought, and Link drew it back to see a strip of gnarled, red flesh across the back of it. He had, without thinking about, continued paddling the way he had in clear water, without much care as to whether or not water had splashed his hand; almost as soon as he'd made this realization, he realized he'd dropped the paddle. Link pulled the left paddle into the boat with him and reached out for the right one he'd let go of, but it had already begun to sink away, the wooden vessel too far away.

"Link!" Tatl exclaimed. "Look what you did!"

The boat continued drifting closer towards the mushrooms, and Link attempted to use his only paddle to push them towards the cave on the wall, ignoring the pain in his right hand. He only ended up spinning the boat around slowly, speeding its progression towards the first of the three massive red mushrooms growing out of the water that were grouped together; their surfaces were flat and could hold perhaps four people before room would run out. Link decided to allow the boat to drift in that direction, setting down the remaining paddle inside of the boat, and further examining his raw right hand.

"I can't believe you!" Tatl shouted, flying to be just beside him. "Just because the water doesn't hurt wood doesn't mean you should dip your hand into it!"

"I didn't dip my hand into it," Link protested, turning around from his sitting position once his end of the boat bumped against the mushroom. "I accidentally splashed it; that's all."

"Still, that was pretty careless of you."

"I was just thinking about wood, and how it didn't get hurt; maybe there's a way I could get across the water on my own." He eyed the wooden trunk a few feet away from the last mushroom, which was close the cave in the rock wall they'd been heading towards.

"Did you figure out how to turn into a piece of wood, Link?" Tatl asked, as Link stood up in the boat, careful not to lose his balance.

"No, but I can turn into a Deku scrub."

The fairy looked away from him for a second, but did not have the epiphany Link had hoped she would have. "But you'd sink right to the bottom, wouldn't you?"

"Tatl, get away from the water." Link said this with such grave urgency that Tatl spun around instantly, having looked up to see Link frozen in fear halfway standing up in the boat. The fairy scanned the surface of the water only momentarily before she realized she was supposed to be looking _in_ the water. A dark mass of some sort could be seen underneath the surface, and the crown of its head began to rise from the water towards them.

"_It's that thing!_" Tatl exclaimed, flying to be on top of the mushroom as Link scrambled towards the end of the boat, which, given his sudden movement, began to spin away from the mushrooms. The white top of the creature's head did not continue to rise from the water, instead shooting two long, dark purple tentacles out. They wrapped around the boat swiftly as Link reached the end of it, and one of the tentacles circling the boat repeatedly reached his foot, pulling him back down before he could leap out. Link's face came an inch from plunging into the purple water, only his chest down having been pulled back down into the boat, the rest hanging over the edge. The tentacle began to pull him back across the boat towards the side the creature was on, the second tentacle joining.

Link pulled his sword from his scabbard, turned over onto his back, and slashed through the tentacle that had a hold of him, it only having been able to pull him for a split second. The boat rocked dangerously back and forth as Link quickly jumped to his feet, the creature pulling its tentacles back as it shrieked, one of the tentacles having lost its end, the webbed tip for grabbing now dead and separate in the bow. Droplets of the poison water freckled Link's legs as he ran, each feeling like the sting of a fiery bee, the tentacle stub bleeding profusely as it was drawn back into the water. Link leapt from the boat towards the mushroom without thought of how far away it had gotten, just as the whole mass of the creature hoisted itself out of the water ontop of the boat.

Link landed on the squishy surface of the red mushroom only partially, pulling himself up the rest of the way next to Tatl, holding tightly to his sword. He turned around, to see his boat being ripped to shreds, the massive creature tearing it to pieces with its remaining three tentacles. The creature was an octo; it was a big one, its skin fleshy and purple, a large flimsy snout protruding just underneath its glowing green eyes. A large, hard, white, and spiky top to its head glistened above, the whole creature wrathful as it used its thick, long tentacles destroy his vessel.

Link got to his feet and backed away towards the other end of the mushroom he was on, keeping his sword at the ready, his boots having trouble walking on the flimsy, slippery surface. The big octo tossed the boat aside once it was merely debris, bringing up one of its tentacles to back hand Link; the blonde haired boy met it with his sword, though, not managing to severe it as he had the last. The octo roared in terror again, looking away from the gash in its other tentacle back to Link with wild eyes. Link retained a determined expression on his face, a strong stance rooting him to the mushroom and awaiting the next attack.

The octo caught Link by complete surprise, lifting its snout and releasing a round, white ball. It traveled quickly, the size of Link's midsection, soaring through the air swiftly. Link stood tall and his eyes went wide with shock, but that was all he had time to do before it slammed into his stomach. The hollow ball shattered as soon as it hit him, but the force at which it had lifted him into the air and sent him flying backwards off of the mushroom onto the one behind it. He managed to stop himself from sliding into the water behind him, but looked up to see he'd left behind his sword on the first mushroom. The octo did not bother to celebrate at this accomplishment, treading with its four tentacles to round the other two mushrooms so it could attack Link again.

Tatl flew quickly over to her fallen ally, who had begun to sit up and had eyed his bag in doing so. "Are you okay?" Tatl asked, but she continued before he could answer. "Quick, get to your feet and get out your shield; it's coming back!"

"No, I'm not going to use my shield," Link corrected as the octo rounded the mushroom to be directly across for him again. He pulled the Deku mask out of his bag and put it up against his face as the octo shot out another white ball, this time at his head.

Tatl gasped, not expecting the transformation to happen nearly quick enough. However, she'd hardly blinked before suddenly Link was no longer a human; the first time, the mask had slowly covered his face and taken over his body. This second time, it was instantaneous; one second he was a human, the next he was the same Deku scrub he had been before. He was once again in over sized clothes, except in the condition they had been last time he'd had the mask on; bootless, a hole with black scorch marks around the edges at the chest, and no sword and shield on his back. The bag had also disappeared, but something had reappeared: his hat. It was as if, once he had taken off the mask, it had saved the exact condition he had been in for next time he put on the mask; everything he hadn't had on at that moment vanished, and everything that he had reappeared. The only thing that had changed was his physical condition; he was no longer dying. Link once again had wooden textured skin, glowing orange eyes, and a snout. The white ball the octo had fired flew directly over his head, since he had lost a couple of feet in height transforming.

Link fired a projectile of his own out of his snout, jumping towards the purple water and leaping out of his over sized tunic as the green bubble whizzed into the octo. The Deku scrub hopped across the surface of the water as he had in the sewers, touching and leaping off of the water three times before landing on the mushroom with his sword on it. The octo, meanwhile, shrieked yet again, this time at the green goop covering it. Link turned to face the octo once he was standing next to his sword, summoning the strength to shoot another bubble, this time bigger and stronger, while the octo was distracted from his first attack. He managed to do so, and the octo was now completely coated following the second strike. In confusion and agony, suffocating from the thick goop, the octo quickly disappeared underneath the purple water and swam swiftly away.

Link panted, his enemy now scared off, as he looked down to examine his Deku scrub body again. "What was that?" Tatl exclaimed, as she flew over from the other mushroom. "What... did you just do? Since when could you walk on water or turn into a Deku scrub instantly?"

"Ee-_ack_," Link coughed, clearing his throat and remembering to talk correctly for his form. "_I knew about the jumping on water thing for a while, but I can't do it all that many times before I sink. I kind of gambled the instant transformation thing just then._"

"Well, look what it did! You even have your hat back Link; congratulations on regaining your status as a dweeb." The fairy, as Link looked up at her smiling, looked around to realize they were now stuck in the middle of the poisonous water without a boat; she eyed the tree trunk leading into the cave and then looked back at Link, who was already examining what she had just found herself. "Hop across the water onto the log, and through the cave to the bank on the other side?"

Link nodded his head, bending down to pick up his sword and jumping to hop across the water.


	14. The Deku King

Note: Well, I guess Saturday has become the new update day for the remainder of "Part 2"; I'm not exactly sure how many chapters are left in it, since I'm kind of typing it up in one massive document and dividing it as I reach suspenseful/conclusive stopping points, but I'm definitely finally ahead of schedule, rather than behind, so updates should be regular until our heroes move along to the north.

* * *

_Chapter 14: The Deku King_

The soot fell lightly around them as the embers of the burning building popped and crackled; the smell of smoke and heat was thick and heavy. The imp was floating just above the floor of the massive throne room as a purple fire burnt brightly in the back corner of the room; he stared down at a tanned middle aged woman, on her knees, shaking terribly as she stared at the ground underneath the Skull Kid with wide, fearful eyes, red hair long and frayed. The dark mask's orange eyes bore down on her forebodingly, and, shakily, the woman raised her arm and pointed off to her right, at a large fish tank up against the wall.

The Skull Kid instantly turned away, facing it now as he held out his arm towards it. The woman looked up nervously at the fish tank, not daring to look at the imp, but curious as to what he was doing. When the imp closed his fist, the glass shattered, the water spilling out onto the floor, bringing with it a clam-like creature with sharp, pointy spikes on its lips and what looked like a large, blue-green egg. The egg did not roll very far, being soft, but the clam began to fling itself across the room hectically, dying now that it was outside of the water. The Skull Kid flicked his hand out again, this time causing the egg to explode, its innards now lifeless muck coating the floor.

The imp then turned to face the woman on the floor, who immediately turned away from the shattered tank and looked down at the floor again. "_Please..._," she stammered. "_You've destroyed the eggs; let me live_."

"Why should I?" the Skull Kid said coldly, floating directly in front of her, arms across his chest.

"_We... didn't do anything wrong!_" she suddenly exclaimed, looking up at him with tears now in her eyes. "_We were doing what you said: collecting the eggs so we could find the treasure at the Great Bay Temple, and split it with you! We didn't do anything against the deal!_"

"You only found four of them, Aveil," the imp said, calm compared to her emotionally stressed composure. "And you've been searching for a week. Besides, there never was a treasure at the temple; I just wanted you to find all of the eggs, so I could destroy them once you did."

"_But why did you have to kill all of us?_" Aveil, the pirate lord of the fortress, pleaded, weaponless and defeated. "_We would have cooperated._"

The Skull Kid looked away from her after a moment, thoughtful, turning back to her once he'd found the words. "Have you seen the moon recently?"

Aveil looked back down at the floor when he said this, gulping, not quite sure if she should play along, confused as to how this all related. "... _Yes_."

"Have you noticed anything different about it?"

She continued to shake, squeezing her eyes shut now as she answered. "... _Yes_."

The Skull Kid did not break eye contact with her, while it seemed to be the only thing she was avoiding. "And what's different about it?"

"... _I don't..._"

"What's different about it, Aveil?"

"_It's_... _bigger..._?" she looked up at him, confusion mixed with terror and grief.

"... Bigger?" the Skull Kid inquired, as if it had been a foolish answer. He began to laugh, that childish laugh that at the same time was eerily dark. "It's _closer_! Not bigger! I'm going to slam it into the clock tower tonight, killing everyone in Termina...!" But the imp trailed off before he continued, looking away as if suddenly very worried with something that he had just remembered. The Skull Kid looked off into the purple fire behind him, contemplating something.

"_Why?_" Aveil suddenly screamed. "_Why would you do something like that?_"

The Skull Kid didn't answer, however, still looking into the fire and thinking deeply. The pirate looked at his back, confused as she began to stop crying; her eyes darted to the left, where a sword lay on the floor a few feet behind him. Aveil began to silently creep to her feet, the imp still turned around, and tip-toed quietly towards the sword, the imp appearing to not notice.

"That ocarina...," the Skull Kid said out loud; Aveil froze when he said this, her eyes turning from the sword she hadn't quite yet reached to the imp's back. He didn't turn around, however, as if he was talking to the fire, or himself. "Where are they?" Aveil took a moment to recuperate from the scare, and continued creeping towards the blade as the Skull Kid mumbled quietly to himself. She eyed it as she approached it, noticing the blood stained at the tip of it.

Aveil, hardly a foot from it, the Skull Kid now dangerously close, took in a deep breath before leaping for the sword. The Skull Kid turned around as her hand circled around the handle, "If they..." He stopped short when he saw Aveil's newly reclaimed blade lunging towards his face, traveling to go directly through the mask. The pirate screamed as she thrust the blade; a battle cry, her last hope for survival. The imp threw his arms into the air, bringing a wave of purple fire with him. It stopped the blade just before touching the mask, sending Aveil hurtling across the room back where she had been; the pirate collapsed to the floor, the sword spiraling out of her hand further behind her.

Aveil moaned lying down, gritting her teeth as she shakily lifted the arm that had been holding the sword; it was now burnt completely, scorched black in some places and red in others, making for a horrendous sight of pain. The Skull Kid then began to glide across the floor toward her, her still lying on the floor in pain. He reached her, cocking his head to side, as if curious, Aveil looking up at him, breathing heavily and quickly. "_Why?_" she screeched again, holding up her burnt hand in a last effort of protection.

"Because," he began, tilting his head back to be upright. "It's fun."

He began to move his arms in circular motions, as if preparing for something, and Aveil's eyes widened in horror. The lightning's flashes could be seen bouncing off of the walls as it traveled through the air, a high-pitched wail filling the room as it progressed towards its target. The scream was cut short as soon as it made contact.

* * *

Link hopped his last hop across the purple water, landing on the grass on the other side of the cave. He took a few steps away from the shore, panting as he picked his feet out of the water and walked up the slope, glancing at the wooden dock as he passed.

"You know, it's too bad we couldn't use that; we always have to do things the hard way, don't we?" Tatl said this as she flew up next to Link, the two looking to see that the poisonous water continued in a wide stream bordered by rock walls and grass on either side. Tall trees grew out of the water, their tops, rather than having leaves, instead forming large, red, circular platforms, that looked as squishy as the mushrooms had been, tall and clustered together in groups. A few lily pads also floated in the water, and other random assortments of swamp wildlife, but the main thing grabbing their attention was just in front of them on the rock wall, passed the dock and up the grass slope. It appeared to be a fortress wall of some sort, constructed crudely out of wood; an open doorway was at ground level and lead to the other side of the wall of rock. "The Deku Palace is just through that doorway, Mr. Deku scrub. Lower species first?"

Link looked up at her after she said this, and the fairy thought she felt a strange sense of nostalgia when she looked into his orange eyes and snout face. He still had the blonde hair on his head, it having grown as much as his human head of hair had, except it was once again covered by his long, green hat. "_I don't know_," Link said, looking down at his wooden body. "_I feel weird going in without clothes on_."

The fairy seemed to notice for the first time that he had jumped out of his over sized tunic and boots in order to hop over the water. "You have a hat on!" Tatl reminded him, though Link did not seem phased. "Deku scrubs don't wear clothes anyway, Link; I was going to suggest hiding your hat before you went in."

"_Deku scrubs are supposed to have a skirt of leaves!_"

"Not child ones," Tatl pointed out. "Besides, now that you've given me the... opportunity... to see a naked Deku scrub, I'm not sure how to tell the difference between a boy and a girl one; there's nothing to hide _with_ clothes."

"... _Fine, Tatl_," Link finally said, slipping his long hat off of his head and holding it in his hands. "_I'll take the hat off; it just feels weird going into a palace without clothes on._"

"Welcome to not being a human!" Tatl exclaimed, as she saw Link look at the hat oddly.

"_I wonder..._," Link said vaguely. He set the hat and his sword down on the grass and then backed away from them, grabbing his face where he thought the mask should be.

"What're you doing?" Tatl asked, as Link felt his wooden face for some sort of edge to grab a hold of.

"_Maybe I can hide my hat and sword in my human form_," Link theorized, turning to the fairy and putting his hands down. "_I mean, my tunic had the hole in it again; Kotake fixed that for me, remember? It obviously saved that for the next time I was a Deku scrub..._"

"Okay, I think I get what you're saying; I just hope you're right about still having your clothes on when you turn back into a human."

"... _I'm just not sure whether or not the hat and mask will disappear when I take the mask off; you'd think if they weren't touching me they wouldn't._"

"I guess there's only one way to find out."

"_I'm just not sure how to actually take it off_," Link said, still groping around the edges of his face. "_How'd Kotake do it?_"

"Well, she sort of poured a bunch of potions on you, and rubbed your face until it fell off. It was a little creepy, but you were dying, so I wasn't about to complain."

"_I don't have any potions though_," Link said, frustrated as he continued to search for the mask.

"Maybe you just have to visualize it," Tatl suggested, exaggerating the phoniness of what she was saying. "You know... _be the mask_." The fairy blinked, and then, instead of a naked Deku scrub standing before her, was instead a blonde-headed teenager dressed in a green tunic, no hole from the Skull Kid in its upper half. His bag, shield, boots, and scabbard all returned as well, his sword and hat on the grass in front of him and Deku mask in hand.

"It worked!" Link exclaimed, picking up his sword and sliding it into his scabbard, slipping his hat back over his untidy blonde hair.

"Don't get too excited; you have to be a Deku head again, remember? The monkeys said only scrubs are allowed, and you promised me you wouldn't stay a human and walk in and slaughter them all."

Link sighed, holding the Deku mask in front of him. "I don't like being near the poison water as a human anyways," Link said, looking down at the burns still sustained on his right hand. He slipped the mask back over his face, and instantly transformed him into a Deku scrub, now bare of any clothing or possession again. He then turned around and walked towards the doorway, the fairy following close behind.

"So what's the plan here, exactly?" Tatl asked as they stepped through. On the other side, the grass continued a little bit further before cutting off at a massive pond of purple, still water, larger even than the one in which they had fought the octo. Across the vast pond was another piece of land, completely sealed off by more large, wooden walls similar to the one he had just came through, except much taller and longer, forming a complete border around the edges. Link noted that the purple water wrapped around the fortress, realizing that it was a three-sided moat, if anything; a rock wall completely enclosing the area made up the very back wall of the palace. Many thin, wooden bridges led from the grass Link was on, across the moat, and to the entrance in the fortress wall, the bridge floating, but tied down on either end to prevent it from floating away. It was a massive construction, the outer fortress walls surrounding what appeared to be some sort of hive from far away; it was indeed a palace, but constructed by Deku scrubs.

"_I'm not sure_," Link said. "_Look for the monkey?_"

"Whoa; déjà vu," Tatl said. "This sounds extremely familiar to your last plan; you know, roaming around the forest until we found Koume?"

"_We found her, didn't we?_" Link looked up at her, a grin spread across his snout.

"I hate you sometimes, Link," Tatl replied, shaking her head and flying over to be above the bridge. "Alright, come on; let's go in and wing it, on pure impulse and nerve, as always." Link followed behind her on the bridge, its wooden planks dipping into the water under his weight; he was glad he had not decided to try and cross as a human. Link, after looking at his feet, caught something behind him; he turned around to see, on the rock wall behind which he had come from, was another cave, up high; below was a small piece of land with a Deku flower on it. He took note of this, and a small sign just next to the cave, though it was too far away to read. Link turned back around and continued across the bridge once he remembered that the sun had begun its journey across the sky; there would not be another one before the moon fell.

At the end of the bridge, they reached the large, tall gap between the two fortress walls, forming the entrance gate. Two Deku flowers were blocking the path inside, though, two adult Deku scrubs hopping out of them as they saw Link approaching. He, upon seeing them, slowed his pace and stepped over onto the opposite side carefully, just in front of the two Deku scrubs preventing him from entering the palace. They had leaves on top of their head instead of hair, and Link was almost positive they would have skirts should they jump out of their flowers. Link felt weird approaching them in such a manner; in his past, he had either ignored Deku scrubs as a human or fought hostile ones to protect himself. The only one he had ever communicated with was the one who had traded him his flower in the South Clock town plaza for the Moon's Tear.

"_Uhh_," Link stammered, when neither one spoke first, their orange eyes not wavering or showing the slightest bit of hospitality. Tatl merely remained nervously beside him, wondering if they would even let her in. "_Hi?_"

"This is the palace of the Deku Kingdom," the one on Link's right exclaimed, making sure it was standing tall and proud. "Only those on official business may enter!" Link didn't answer, gulping when he realized he had no excuse to be here. "And what business does a naked child such as yourself have here?"

"_Uh_..."

"Remember what the king said?" the Deku scrub on the left interrupted, and the one on the right looked away in thought for only a moment, before turning back to face Link.

"... But you may enter to see the public humiliation of the foolish monkey who angered our king," the right one said, correcting himself. The Deku scrubs then turned around simultaneously, pointing their snouts erectly ahead of their selves. "Follow this hall straight to the Royal Chamber. Do not enter any other areas whatsoever!" Then they both disappeared into their flowers, allowing Link to step over them into the palace.

"_See?_" Link squeaked, looking up at the fairy who followed him. "_Easy_."

"Yeah, but something tells me the same thing won't happen when we try to save the monkey. 'Oh, remember what the king said? That's right! It's Let-Any-Peasant-Off-the-Street-Come-in-and-Take-a-Monkey-Prisoner Day!" Tatl said this mocking the voice of the Deku scrub who had been at the gates, but making sure to whisper so only Link could hear her.

"_We'll figure something out_," Link whispered back, walking down in between the narrow passage with tall fortress walls on either side. There was a doorway in each one leading to some sort of courtyard, but Link obeyed the instructions of the guards and continued to walk forwards towards the hive like object dead ahead. An opening was just on the front of it, and he passed inside.

* * *

It was a large, round room, the walls and roof a dark stone, and the floor packed dirt. Link walked slowly into the room with his fairy by his side, the six other Deku scrubs in the room looking up to face him. On the other side of the room was a raised platform, on which a massive, elaborate wooden chair sat. Inside of the chair was a just as massive Deku scrub, larger than any one Link had ever seen before; he had a bulbous, flower-like head, his arms draping vines, a staff with a flower on the end in one of his hands. To the right of the large Deku scrub in the chair was a tall, slim Deku scrub with a green handlebar mustache; at the end of both ramps on either side that lead up to the raised platform were two Deku scrubs, looking exactly like the ones outside: guards. In the center of the room was a pit filled with wood and rocks from which fire erupted, and to the left was yet another raised platform. This one, however, did not have a ramp leading up to it, and was bared to prevent anyone from climbing on or down from it, forming a massive cage.

Link took a few more steps further, as the guard Deku scrubs in front of the ramps turned back around and began to dance in place, the large Deku scrub with the staff basking in the worship the dancing guards provided him with. The tall one with the mustache merely stood there, looking annoyed as he watched the young Deku scrub with the blonde hair enter the room. Link stopped walking when he noticed something in the cage: tied to a tall wooden pole running from the roof to the floor, was a monkey. Link's orange Deku scrub eyes went wide when he realized this had to be _their_ monkey, and he ran quickly over to be in front of the cage. The tall Deku scrub watched him with interest, while the large one, continuing to angrily gloat, hardly seemed to notice.

"Hey!" Tatl called, flying over to be just in front of the bars. Link could hardly see through them, the floor of the cage being quite high, and the monkey tied onto the pole even higher. The small white creature struggled furiously at the ropes keeping him bound, kicking his legs and shaking madly, all in vain. The monkey stopped when he heard the fairy, however, panting as he took a break from fighting against the ropes and looked up at her. The monkey's eyes only lingered on her for a moment before looking down at the small Deku scrub that seemed to be entering with her.

"Get away from me," the monkey said under his breath, speaking much more clearly and articulately than his brothers.

"... Excuse me?" Tatl instantly replied, taken back.

Seeing where this was going, Link quickly intervened, from too far below, "_We're here to help!_" He tried to speak as softly as he could, but the monkey hardly seemed to pay attention to what he was saying, turning away from the young Deku scrub and fairy.

"Sure...," he said, trailing off. "That's what the others said, before they started throwing rocks at me."

"_Your brothers sent us though!_" Link persisted, wondering how quiet it was even possible to be with such a high-pitched voice. The monkey's ears perked up as soon as he said this, now turning to look down at Link with a different expression on his face. "... _You took the princess to the temple, and_..." The monkey rolled his eyes as soon as he said that though, beginning to struggle against the ropes again.

"Just shut up!" the monkey screamed, squeezing his eyes furiously as he kicked his feet.

"We're just trying to help," Tatl persisted under her breath one last time, level with the monkey as she floated outside of the wooden bars; they were too close together for even herself to fit through.

"No, no, no!" the monkey persisted, not allowing them to explain their selves. "They keep saying that I kidnapped her. No matter how many times they say it, it's not going to bring the princess back!" He seemed to be talking to himself, causing Tatl to back away slowly towards the ground and Link as the monkey continued. "If they're not careful, the princess will fall victim to a monster!" He then stopped struggling again, looking down at Link and Tatl for a response.

Link was unable to respond, though, as one of the guards grabbed him from behind the arms and began to drag him away from the cage to be on the raised platform. He was caught completely off guard and tried to struggle against the Deku scrub's hold, but found he was hardly able to move at all. Link quickly gave up, looking up at the caged monkey he was being pulled away from. The small, white creature looked down at him sadly as he was taken away, as if not having expected a response at all. "Hey, Link!" Tatl exclaimed as he flew after her partner. She stopped though when she heard the monkey behind her.

"Please believe my words," the monkey pleaded, sadness in his eyes. Tatl didn't respond, turning back around and flying up to Link, who had just been tossed down to be at the feet of the massive Deku scrub, who was standing in his chair. He stopped angrily swinging his staff around once Link was in front of him, and he bent down to be nearer to his face.

"I haven't seen your face before," the large Deku scrub, the king, Link realized, boomed. His face was contorted in anger and fury, likely all directed at the monkey whom he believed had kidnapped his daughter. "Are you visiting?" Link, getting to his feet, nodded his head as Tatl flew to be directly beside him. "Usually, I don't allow the likes of you in my Royal Chamber, but today is different! We're about to punish the foolish monkey who kidnapped the Deku princess!" He then looked up at the ceiling with a large smile spread across his snout, as if thinking dreamily of finally punishing the monkey.

"How do you even know he did it?" Tatl exclaimed, angry at the ignorant aura she received from this king.

He turned away from the ceiling to look down at her, the smile gone. "He has insulted this Royal Family," the Deku King replied gravely, slamming the end of his staff into the chair for impact, completely ignoring what Tatl had said. "I'll show him what happens when you do that!" He then looked down as if just noticing Link, and then pointed the staff to be directly in front of his face, Link backing up slightly to avoid it poking him. "And you! Stop talking with the monkey and start harassing him. Take some rocks from the fire pits if you must, but he will suffer! And you will make sure he does as long as you are in my chamber."

"But you didn't even give the monkey a chance to prove himself!" Tatl pointed out, assuming this was true for her argument's sake.

"Silence yourself!" the Deku King yelled, pulling his staff away from Link and turning to face the fairy. "This palace is for the Deku only!"

"But..."

"If you are not here to harass the monkey... then begone!"

The fairy opened her mouth to continue further, but the tall Deku scrub with the mustache, appearing elderly compared to the others, stepped forward before she could. "I'm sorry, maim," he said, very politely, and softly. "But his beloved princess is missing." The tall Deku scrub looked up at his king as he said this, the king looked down at him with narrowed eyes.

"You deal with these miscreants, Butler," the king ordered, waving Link and Tatl away with the hand not holding the staff. "I do not have time for them." The butler then turned away form the king and walked over to the side, Link and Tatl hesitantly following; the Deku King continued waving his staff in anger at the monkey and in glory of the dancing guards.

"I apologize," the butler said, standing tall, but talking softly to the two so as to not be overheard. "He's been unable to keep his cool ever since she went missing." The butler sighed, shaking his head, obviously much more controlled and reasonable than his master.

"We already knew she was missing, though," Tatl said once the butler had finished, turning to Link as if for permission to continue. The blonde Deku scrub nodded. "We want to find a way to stop the monkey's execution, whether we have to prove him innocent, or break him out." The butler, at first, didn't respond, staring at Link oddly as the fairy spoke to him. "Um... hello? You are more reasonable than your king, aren't you? Or do you think the monkey's guilty too?"

The butler snapped out of his trance when she said this, turning slowly away from Link and back to the fairy, but not before passing a second glance. "I'm terribly sorry," he began to explain, "your friend over here just seems familiar to me... I... er..." Tatl looked at the butler in confusion, not knowing where he was going with this, so the tall Deku scrub merely sighed and dropped the matter. "I don't know if that monkey is guilty or not, but it shouldn't be or top priority. I fear the princess may be caught up in some kind of trouble, just as that monkey claims. But in his current state, the king can't even send troops out to look for her."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Tatl asked.

"I'm not sure there's anything we can do," the butler persisted. "I'm afraid our king will not listen to reason in his current state; we must hope the monkey outlives the king's temper."

"You mean we're just going to sit here and hope he changes his mind?" Tatl exclaimed, breaking the whisper their conversation had held. The fairy looked quickly over to see if the king had noticed, and he had; but the monarch turned away when he met Tatl's eyes, as if warning her.

"_I'm_ going to sit here and hope he changes his mind," the butler explained, causing Tatl to turn away from the Deku King. "I'm just an old servant, after all."

"But, what are _we_ supposed to do?" Tatl asked.

"I'm not sure..."

"_So the princess was last seen at the temple?_" Link finally spoke, stepping forward to be apart of the conversation, looking up at the butler curiously.

The butler seemed nervous to speak to the young scrub, but eventually did, calming whatever it was that was upsetting him. "Yes, she was. We assume her and the young monkey went there together; the young princess voiced a concern over investigating the poisonous quality the swamp has recently possessed. Her father wouldn't let her leave the palace, but she ran away. When the guards went to the temple, suspecting she had gone there first, there was only the one monkey; he and the princess had known each other previously."

"So they just assumed the monkey kidnapped her?" Tatl inquired.

"That about sums it up, yes," the butler said, happy to turn away from Link; when Link spoke again, the tall Deku scrub hesitantly turned back to the small.

"_Where is the temple?_"

The butler thought for a moment, Tatl instantly spinning around to face Link. "Link!"

"It's just outside of the palace," the butler answered. "You must have passed it on your way here; there's a cave up on the wall with a Deku flower underneath. If you go through there and hop along the red trees, you should find it with no problem."

"You promised we wouldn't go there!" Tatl exclaimed, trying her best to be quiet and ignoring the butler.

Link, in turn, ignored Tatl as the Deku scrub with the green mustache continued. "But one cannot enter unless they are a member of the Royal Family, I'm sorry to say."

"_That's okay_," Link said, nodding his head and backing away. "_Thank you for helping us_."

"It was my pleasure," the butler said, bowing slightly. "Take caution in whatever rescue mission you think you're going on."

"_I will_." And Link turned away, jumping off of the platform onto the dirt floor, not wanting to take the ramp and ask the guards to move out of the way.

"What are you doing?" Tatl asked, furious as she followed Link. "We can't go to the temple; you said you wouldn't! And besides, it's like he said, only a member of the Royal Family can enter."

"_I'll try not to go inside of the temple, Tatl_," Link reassured her. "_Let's just look around it_."

"Oh, I don't trust you. I know you're going to end up wanting to go in there, but let me tell you: I am _not_ going to..."

"You aren't going to harass the monkey?" the Deku King boomed, interrupting Tatl. The fairy and Deku scrub had made it half-way around the fire pit, almost towards the door out. They hadn't dared trying to pass by the monkey, not wanting to risk another encounter with the monarch; however, that seemed to have been unavoidable.

"Uh...," Tatl stammered, as they both stopped, the fairy slowly turning around but Link determined not to himself.

"Not you, pixie ball," the king demanded, Tatl taken back. "I already told you that your kind aren't welcome here; I'm talking to your friend." Link gulped, still facing the doorway and eager not to turn around. "You came here; you need to throw something at the monkey."

Link turned slowly around to face the king, his orange eyes meeting the king's narrowed ones from across the room, the fire blazing in between them. Link glanced over at the monkey nervously, who was staring wide-eyed at him, as if pleading; the monkey already appeared to have suffered enough throughout the day, the rope digging into his skin and bruises across his body from where other Deku scrubs had most likely thrown things. Link took a step forward, but stopped, everyone watching, even Tatl silent. "_I_...," Link stammered, eyes darting around the room, desperately trying to avoid _his_.

"What's the matter?" the Deku King asked. "Are you... friends with this monkey? Did you, perhaps, have some sort of ulterior motive? Did you come here, so you could find out where he was... to help him?"

"_I was just leaving_," Link said nervously, hardly audible to the monarch who was far across the room.

"You didn't answer my question," the king said, the four guards now done dancing and facing Link just as intently. "Do I have to arrest you too?"

"_I didn't mean to... I came... I don't know the monkey... I just wanted..._," Link continued to stammer, not able to find the words.

"Just wanted to-?" the Deku King exclaimed, slamming his staff into the chair and then leaping from it onto the platform. "Guards! Arre-!"

"Sire!" The king was cut short of his declaration, his eyes filled with rage as he turned to see who had interrupted him: the butler, still just beside his chair.

"Butler?" the king said, making sure to stand as tall as possible over his servant, who tried his best to remain calm. "Why did you interrupt me?"

"Because he's just a kid," the butler said, making sure to keep eye contact with his master. "I'm positive he had no intentions of freeing the monkey; he probably didn't even know you had a prisoner on display. He's just a commoner; he probably wondered in, like any curious child would do... sir."

The king waited, his eyes intense upon the butler, unwavering, trying to find the slightest sign of a lie. The tall, thin Deku scrub remained calm, however, not breaking eye contact, and not showing any traces of deception. "Fine," the king said, turning away and returning to his chair. "Never return to my chamber again, foolish child, and you may walk free." Link nodded his head immediately and vigorously as soon as the king said this, taking one step backwards and looking at the butler, some secret hidden behind his eyes, and then the monkey, hopeful that his two visitors may actually be up to something on his behalf. Then he turned around and left the chamber in its dead silence, the fairy following.

* * *

"That was close!" Tatl exclaimed, now that they were outside of the hive structure, once again in the hallway with tall fortress walls on either side, open to the sky and grass at their feet. "I thought you were going to have to take off your mask and fight."

"_I didn't even think about that_," Link admitted. "_I keep thinking I'm in one form or another; I forget I can change_."

"Well, you can; thanks to the mask salesman."

"_I should probably stay a Deku scrub as long as I can while I'm here, though. The swamp doesn't seem all that kind to humans._"

"Hey... isn't that?" Tatl stopped short, though, when Link turned to look up too, both squinting in the sunlight peaking over the fortress wall. A small white creature was climbing down the wall towards them, swiftly and quietly, without making it sound. It landed just in front of Link and Tatl, the guards at the exit to the palace in their flowers and not paying attention. It stood there, beaming up at the two of them and bouncing up and down; they recognized it as one of the other three monkeys. "_What are you doing here?_" Tatl whispered urgently. "If you could climb in here whenever you wanted, why'd you ask us to help your brother?"

"No can untie brother without be seen," the monkey explained, his smiling fading as he scratched his head.

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Tatl replied. "You know, I was surprised your brother actually knew how to talk; it's a pity _he's_ the one who got captured."

"Was my brother all right?" the monkey asked, either ignoring Tatl's sarcasm or not understanding it.

"Yeah, yeah, your brother was fine," Tatl answered. "He's hanging in there."

"Did you see entrance to cage?" the monkey asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Its barred; there's no way in."

"No, no. Entrance to cage!"

"Yes, entrance to cage; there are thick bars stopping anyone from getting in!"

"_Do you mean another entrance?_" Link squeaked, the monkey nodding his head in excitement since someone had understood.

"Oh," Tatl merely said, looking away as the monkey now turned to Link to continue.

"We know secret route there," the monkey began. "Enter secret route from Outer Garden entrance. But entrance in tall place. No can reach it. Need bean from bean seller. Live beneath palace garden."

"_So this bean; it'll take me up high so I can reach the secret entrance?_"

The monkey nodded again.

"How's a bean supposed to do that?" Tatl asked skeptically. "And where'd you say this bean seller was?"

"Beneath palace garden," the monkey repeated.

"And how is it that we're supposed to get there?"

"Sneak through garden and palace until reach cave. Bean seller in there." The monkey pointed behind him, to the doorway on the left fortress wall of the hallway.

"Wait a minute," Tatl began. "You're telling me, that we're going to have to sneak by a bunch of Deku scrubs, find this cave you're talking about, and climb into to get underneath the garden?" The monkey, yet again, nodded. "Why would anyone want to sell beans there; he can't be getting much business!"

"Me go now," the monkey said. "You understand my meaning?"

"_I think so_," Link answered. "_Where's the secret entrance, once we have the bean?_"

"On outside palace walls," the monkey explained, as he jumped on top of the fortress wall he had climbed down and began to climb towards the top once again. "Hop across purple water to side of palace."

"_Got it_," Link said, but the monkey was already half-way up the wall, and might not have heard him.

"You know, a thank you would be nice every once in a while!" Tatl called out to the monkey. The fairy then sighed, shaking her head as she turned to face Link. "Are you sure you want to do this, Deku head? It sounds like it's dangerous and a lot of work, and something tells me we're not any closer to finding one of 'the four'."

"_The monkey could be one of them_," Link theorized. "_Or the princess._"

"I hope it's not the princess; the king wouldn't be very happy if we found his daughter, only to _actually_ kidnap her like he thinks she already has been." Link did not have a response to this, taking a few steps closer towards the doorway and looking back at Tatl. "Okay, for the millionth time, I'm going to suggest that we just go get Kotake and Koume and go back to the mask salesman."

"_And for the millionth time_," Link began, "_I'm going to remind you that it doesn't matter how long it takes us to get Koume and Kotake, as long as we do it before this day is over; they'll still be there just before the moon falls, and the first day is going to be waiting for us whenever we decide to __play the song of time. We still have the rest of this day to use before we have to go back; Koume, __Kotake, and the mask salesman aren't going anywhere. I don't want to waste away the rest of this day by calling it quits now._"

"It's just the safe thing to do, Link," Tatl reminded him. "Besides, your visions of the Skull Kid kind of scared me; what if we run into him?"

"_We won't run into him. The Skull Kid is at the top of the clock, remember? And he doesn't remember anything; as far as he knows, he hasn't seen us since he cursed me into a Deku scrub._"

"He wasn't on top of the tower in your visions..."

"_But that's because I had those on the second day; we never knew what he was doing on that day of the cycle, only that he's at the top of the tower on the final day_."

"Okay, okay, if you say so, Link," Tatl finally gave in. "I'll trust you this one last time, okay? Every other time you've convinced me to do something, it's turned out bad."

"_This time's different_," Link said, looking at her pleadingly with his orange eyes.

"Yeah, like you've never said that before," the fairy said, rolling her eyes as she went to fly ahead of Link. "Come on, let's go find the magical beans."

* * *

The sun had almost reached its zenith, shining fiercely down on the remaining inhabitants of Clock Town. Most had left, the streets empty except for a few who dared to challenge the authority the moon now commanded, dangerously close to crashing into the city. The Skull Kid watched all of this while standing on top of the city's west wall, looking onto the sloping walkway that was West Clock Town, but seeing no one except for the man running the bank, who was too busy counting rupees to notice the masked imp staring at him.

_They're not here_, the Skull Kid thought. _Where are they?_

_**Search the town.**_

_But where would they go?_ the imp thought confusedly. _They have no friends here._

_**They rest in the hotel. Go there.**_

The Skull Kid perked up at this idea, smiling behind the mask as he lifted off of the town wall and flew to be above South Clock Town. The carpenters paid no attention as he progressed to be in East Clock Town, landing on the empty plaza floor and progressing towards the door to the Stock Pot Inn.

* * *

Anju looked down sadly at the papers on her desk as she shuffled through them, throwing some away and folding others neatly and putting them to the side. Her short red hair was neat and pretty, as was her outfit, but she did not feel that way as she emptied the front desk. She felt alone, but yet was still hopeful that she would be found. Anju, as she had countless times that day, lifted the letter Kafei had sent her, and read it over. She felt tears filling her eyes as she did, and could not finish it, setting it down on the desk as she wiped her eyes. _I need a break_, she told herself, as she left through the doorway behind the desk and followed the hallway. _I need a break_.

Anju wiped a single tear from her eye as she rounded the corner to go up the staircase, but she froze halfway in doing so. In rounding the corner, the lobby had once again presented itself in front of her; before going up the staircase, she had caught someone out of the corner of her eye.

A small child was standing in the middle of the room, with frayed clothing and a tall hat, but the thing that stood out the most was the mask covering its face completely. It was heart shaped, mostly purple, but was red where the nose and mouth would be, and green where the cheeks of the mask were. Two spike-like decorations came out of the top, acting almost like horns, four on each side of the bottom of the mask that formed the point of the heart. The eyes of the mask were the oddest part, though, two glowing orange orbs. The masked child merely stood there, in the middle of the lobby, staring at her, unmoving, the orange eyes of the mask seeming to look through her.

Anju lost her breath for a moment, frozen with one hand on the rail to the staircase and one wiping her eye. She had not heard the front door open or close, nor had she heard any steps on the carpeted wood floor. Suddenly, this child had appeared out of no where, and he hadn't said anything... standing there, staring. Anju slowly took her hand away from the railing and took a step towards the child, who did not move.

"Um... hello," she said nervously, not wanting to take any steps closer, and realizing they were both alone in the hotel. The masked child did not respond, merely standing there. She took in a deep breath, trying to appear calm, telling herself that there was nothing to worry about. "Welcome to the Stock Pot Inn. Do you... have a reservation?"

The imp took a step towards her, the first sign of movement, but, rather than relaxing her, as she had expected, this only increased her paranoia. The masked child took several slow steps towards her, not saying anything, only walking across the floor and continuing to stare into her eyes. Anju took one step backwards now, putting her hand back on the rail as if to stabilize her. The imp stopped just a few feet from Anju, still looking up at her. The two said nothing, for what felt like the longest time for Anju, the mask's eyes unmoving, and hers darting continuously back and forth.

"Have you seen a blonde child in a green tunic, with a fairy?" the child finally asked, in a voice not nearly as threatening as his stare.

Anju opened her mouth to answer, but found she had not drawn enough breath to do so, not making a sound. She then swallowed, closed her eyes, let out a deep breath, and tried again, taking her hand off of the railing and holding both of them just in front of her. "No, I don't think I have; are you looking for them? What's the boy's name?"

"I didn't say the child was a boy," the imp replied immediately, losing the childish tone he'd had in his previous question. Anju blinked twice at this, not understanding what he was implying, and also not sure why she had automatically assumed this.

"I'm... sorry," she stammered, becoming steadily more uneasy, the mask still not having looked away. "Is this person your friend? What's... uh... his or her name?"

The imp did not reply immediately this time, creating another silence as he refused to break his stare. Anju waited for a response patiently, inside her head begging this person, this creature, to go away. The masked child then eerily began to cock his head to the side, not shifting his gaze, but now looking at her from a new angle, as if a gesture to imply child-like curiosity.

They waited, before the child finally said, "I remember now. I watched them; they left. Through the southern gate." And then the masked imp simply turned around, walked across the lobby, opened the door, and left. Anju stood there for a moment, just in front of the staircase, looking at the closed door fearfully, as if expecting him to return. But he didn't, and Anju, still not understanding and still very frightened, cautiously walked up the staircase towards her room.


	15. The Palace Cave

Note: Not all that surprisingly, I typed out what I'd hoped to be one chapter, with it instead turning out to be a massive 17 pages, so I, once again, divided it into two. I'll post the next chapter before Saturday since it's already done, and to make up for this one not ending where I'd originally intended it to.

* * *

_Chapter 15: The Palace Cave  
_

Link, still a Deku scrub, was laid up against the short wooden wall, Tatl just by his side. They were in a soft patch of soil, near where the wall ended, Link trying his best to peer around the corner without losing any cover. He watched the two Deku scrub guards, spears in hand, standing in front of the row of Deku flower buds, each at attention a few feet away from one another, their eyes unmoving and looking in his direction, but the wall hiding him from view. "How're we supposed to sneak passed these two?" Tatl whispered, peering around the corner as he did. They had not long ago progressed through the first of the gardens, now in another large room walled off by tall wooden fortress barricades; the wall Link was hiding behind was a smaller one within the garden's boundaries, constructed probably to shade the patch of soil he stood on.

"_I'm not sure_," Link replied, just as quietly. "_I don't think we'll be able to._"

"It'd help if it wasn't the middle of the day," Tatl remarked, looking up at the fierce sun almost centered in the sky.

"_Well, we don't have enough time to wait for night_," Link said, as he brought his head back form around the corner and sighed, now completely hidden behind the wall.

Tatl followed his example, flying to be just in front of him, "Weren't you the one just preaching about the infinite amount of time we had to spare?"

"_Yeah, in the grand scheme of things. If we want to save the monkey and the princess, we'll have to use every minute of daytime we have_."

"I was just being sarcastic, Mr. Serious," the fairy sighed, looking around for some conceivable way for them to progress any further. It seemed that there wasn't one; the only way was around the wall, and doing that would cause them to instantly be spotted by the guards.

"_I guess we'll just have to go back,_" Link said, his mind on the same wave as Tatl's. "_Maybe's there's a way to the bean seller from the other garden._"

"Wait!" Tatl suddenly whispered, jumping up and down excitedly, "... uh, right here. I'll catch up to you; you run while I distract them."

"... _What?_" Link inquired, confused, his orange eyes not understanding. "_What do you mean by distract them?_"

"Well, as we've established plenty a time before, I'm awesome, being a fairy and all, since I can fly. I'll just lure them away from their posts, and allow the poor Deku/human thing that _can't_ fly to run through to the next area. Sound good?"

"_Sure Tatl_," Link said, rolling his eyes and smiling. "_I'll make sure to open any doors we come across in return, for the poor fairy things that can't._"

"Oh, I'll show you poor fairy thing," Tatl said, laughing slightly as she flew over the wall. Link backed away from where it ended, just in case the guards should see where the fairy had flown from.

"Excuse me!" Tatl called once she had progressed a safe distance away from the wall. The two guards immediately glanced to the right to see her, dancing over the young Deku flowers, appearing carefree. "Do you any of you two know where the nearest fairy fountain is? I'm parched, and don't feel like going all the way to Clock Town."

"You have no business here, fairy," one of the guards immediately declared authoritatively, lifting the end of his spear up and slamming it into the ground for impact. "Please leave immediately." Both guards then turned back around to face the wall Link was hiding behind, Tatl sighing to herself and flying to be directly in between the two.

"Please!" Tatl pretended to plead, fluttering her white wings innocently. "You wouldn't turn away a little fairy girl, would you?"

"I have no time for this," the guard who had spoken earlier spoke again, Tatl deciding to fly just in front of him, since the other one had yet to speak. "Go away."

"But I need your guidance, oh wise guard of the Deku Palace!" Tatl remained just in front of the Deku scrub's face, he trying his best not to turn his eyes to look at her.

"If you must know," he began, sighing, but still refusing to look at her, "there's a fountain near the Woodfall temple, but the fairy there was attacked and won't be able to help you. I'd go to Clock Town if I were you; I haven't heard anything bad about that one."

"Why thank you, kind sir!" Tatl exclaimed, beginning to fly away, but stopping as she flew over the row of Deku flowers, pretending to have been interested in them. "Oh my! What are these?"

The guard did not answer, his back facing the plants and fairy, staring onward intently. Tatl smiled to herself at this, and then flew down to one of the young plants, grabbing the buds of one and beginning to yank on it. She pulled the week roots loose and tossed the plant aside, moving to the next flower and doing the same. The guard tried his best to ignore her at first, until he recognized the sound being that of tearing roots; he spun around instantly, his eyes suddenly filled with panic.

"Hey, step away from those!" the Deku scrub exclaimed, the other guard turning around and running to be just beside him.

"I'm not walking; I'm flying!" Tatl chanted annoyingly as she continued to uproot baby Deku flowers. The main guard took several steps towards her and swung his spear as a threat, Tatl backing away from this. She looked up to see irritation etched into his wooden face. The guard turned away once he made the fairy stop, both walking towards their posts. Tatl, however, flew up to the next flower and uprooted it, tossing it into the pile that now counted five dead plants.

The guard saw this from the corner of his eye, now furious as he turned back around and yelled, thrusting out his spear and narrowly missing Tatl. The fairy gasped, backing away when the guard did not yield, continuing to slash his weapon hectically. The other guard joined in, both following the fairy as she flew to lead them as far as possible from where Link was.

The young Deku scrub with the blonde hair peered around the small wall he had been hiding behind, a smile spread across his snout as he watched Tatl lead them away. He then quickly ran from his hiding spot into the garden, looking around for some place to hide next; a doorway was on one of the fortress walls, and Link sprinted towards it, disappearing inside, the room blocking out the sun. It was small, random plant matter and broken spears scattered about, a dirt floor rather than the grass of the garden, and another doorway on the other side, leading out into yet another garden.

Link waited in the cover of the room next to the doorway for Tatl to return, and it wasn't all that long at all before she did, panting. "Geez! They're just a bunch of Deku flowers, aren't they?"

"_You did great, Tatl; it's always nice to watch your annoyingness when I'm not the one being annoyed._"

"Glad I could help. Now come on, we have more sneaking to do... hopefully; I'm not sure how much more distracting I have in me." Link crossed the room to the next doorway and peaked around its opening. Yet another small garden presented itself, with two more guards, though they were facing in the opposite direction this time. The wall across from them, however, was not a fortress wall constructed out of wood; it was a rock face, obviously marking the end of the palace. At the base of the rock wall, where it met grass, was a large hole, a cave in its surface, the dark rock passage concealing whatever lay inside in darkness.

"_That has to be it!_" Link exclaimed, pointing eagerly to the cave.

"Looks good enough to me. What's the plan? Are we going to try to sneak passed these bozos before they turn around?"

"Halt!" Link and Tatl both looked over their shoulders when they heard this voice, coming from behind them in the small room. The two guards from earlier stood there, spears in hand, the one who'd spoken to Tatl in front.

"Uh...," Tatl stammered, Link frozen. "We were just leaving to go to that fairy fountain we talked about."

"You're under arrest." And then the guards walked towards the young Deku scrub and fairy they had caught. Link, at first, still only stood there.

"Link!" Tatl exclaimed, turning to fly back and forth in front of his face. "Run, Link! Run!"

The Deku scrub began to back away quickly, at first not taking his eyes away from the approaching guards, but then spun around on his feet and sprinted towards the cave. The fairy followed, looking back nervously at the guards who seemed to be faster than her companion in his current form. "Stop him!" the front guard explained, raising his spear in front of him to impale the intruders. The other two guards in this new garden, who'd had their backs turned, looked around to see what was happening, and joined the pursuit, now outnumbering Link and Tatl by two.

"We're almost there, Deku boy! Just a few more little Deku steps!"

Link, almost at the small cave, looked side to side to see that the two sets of guards were threatening to intersect him before he reached it; he then leaned forward, running as fast as his small legs would allow him. It still didn't seem to be enough, so when Link reached the entrance to the cave, he leapt forward towards its mouth, the other guards leaping on either side of him to stop him. Link's small body zipped through the air quicker, though, disappearing into the darkness of the cave with his fairy. The four guards, their target now gone, slammed into one and another in midair, all eventually sprawled out on the ground around the entrance to the cave, moaning in pain as they got to their feet, one of them pinned to the ground by a spear in its arm.

Link rolled painfully on the moist cave floor, through the darkness into the back wall. He shakily got to his feet, Tatl going just beside him. "You okay?" she asked, as Link stood again.

"_I think so_," he answered.

"Don't let them get away!" they heard one of the guards shouting. Link and Tatl looked up to see the brightly lit garden; the four Deku scrubs were already all almost standing, preparing to continue chasing them.

"Aright, I don't think we have time to recuperate; where do we go now?" Link looked around for an answer to Tatl's question; it appeared as if the cave had already ended, as if it cut into the wall only a few feet before reaching a dead end. "Maybe this was the wrong cave..."

Link, however, spotted an opening on the right wall. "_Over there; light the way!_" Tatl saw where he was pointing, and did just that, revealing a slim opening that continued the cave's path. Link quickly followed the path the fairy lighted, just as the guards entered and saw him going in that direction.

"That way!" one of them called, Link and Tatl realizing this meant there was no time for a leisurely stroll. They sprinted down the narrow, curving passage of the cave, that seemed to gradually slope down as they progressed. Link's bare Deku scrub feet screamed in protest as he ran, the jagged, smooth surface of the cave floor cutting his feet and making him slip. He stumbled once, managing to catch his balance, but completely fell to the floor once he stubbed his toe a second time.

"Come on, Link!" Tatl exclaimed, stopping to wait for him to get up. "Did you forget how to walk?"

"_No!_" Link remarked as he quickly got up to continue, his feet still sore. "_I just don't have any boots on; this cave floor hurts_."

"Then take off your mask," Tatl reasoned, as they continued running. "They're too far behind us to see."

Link followed her advice, but was hesitant to do so when he heard the guards not far behind; they seemed to be struggling as he had, though, probably used to the soft grass floor of the gardens. The second he removed his mask, he had his human feet back, encased in the large, comfortable brown boots he always wore. Link's feet still seemed to be sore from running barefoot as a Deku scrub, but the boots soothed the bruises sure to result. He wasn't sure, as their run continued, whether or not his speed had increased; turning into a human, he once again wore his shield, sword, and bag, the last of which now had the bulky camera. Link slipped the mask into the bag as they rounded another corner, though weighed down by his possession, happy they had returned to him. It was the most reassuring of all to feel his ocarina on his belt, the most important possession while they ventured in this strange land.

Link and Tatl's journey through the cave, which seemed to grow darker and cut deeper, curving to probably be underneath the garden, continued efficiently, the guards not being able to keep up with their new pace. Eventually, the blonde teen, his green hat having returned, slowed down as his fairy did, now that the chase was no longer a threat. Soon, they noticed that the cave began to slope upwards, threatening to break to the surface again. Link climbed the steep slope as Tatl continued to light the way, rounding several stalagmites as he did so.

"So, I guess that monkey actually knew what he was talking about," Tatl said, now that she saw a light at the end of the cave, still sloping upward. "This probably takes us to the other side of the palace, back into the forest."

"Are you sure?" Link asked, not wanting to head into the Woods of Mystery any time soon, remembering what had happened previously. Koume had warned him of the strange things that people saw near the borders of Termina, namely people they'd lost or left behind; Link wasn't sure if he was prepared to meet Zelda again.

"I don't know where else it could lead us. That's all that's down here in the south; swamp and forests. I'm more of an ocean type person; the west is where I can't wait to go."

"Maybe we can go there next," Link suggested, though looking worriedly at the light after he said this. "You don't think this will take us out of Termina, do you?"

"I hope not!" Tatl exclaimed. "What'd Koume say was out there? Darkness? That doesn't look like darkness up there; in fact, all I can see is light."

"It can't be all darkness," Link persisted. "I mean, Hyrule's got to be out there eventually, doesn't it?"

"Yeah... eventually," Tatl said vaguely, Link not exactly sure what she meant by her tone.

They went onward for only a few more feet before they'd left behind the darkness of the cave and were in blinding sunlight. Their eyes slowly adjusted to reveal that they were once again on long grass; it was a clearing, for just a few feet away trees began, marking a boundary to the forest. Behind them was the rock wall face, continuing down to their right out of sight, on which the cave was they had just walked out of. The sky was still blue and brightly lit above them, and someone else was out here as well, sitting on a blanket laid out on the grass.

Link and Tatl looked over to the person once they had taken in their surroundings; his blanket was placed a few feet away from the rock wall, near where the forest began. The person seemed rather young, perhaps having just reached adulthood, sitting down with his legs crossed, a bag of some sort lying just beside him. He was rather fat, having the large stomach the guide for the tourist center had had, but none of his muscularity. The young adult was pale, had on only blue pants and shoes, and continuously reached into the bag by his side and ate whatever was inside of it. The boy and fairy approached confusedly, as the person sitting down looked up at them.

"... Hi," Link said unsurely, stopping once they were in front of him.

"Well," the man began, not ceasing stuffing food in his mouth while he talked, "you're the first customer I've had in a long time!"

He waited for them to respond, continuing his snacking. "I wouldn't doubt it," Tatl answered him, when Link didn't. "You're kind of hidden in a remote corner of a swamp, just outside of a cave in front of the forest."

"Oh, but I'm not always here," he explained, shoving unseen object after object into his mouth and chewing. "I travel; I've been here for a few days though since it's so pretty. And then the monkeys were nice company too, but the moon is kind of scaring me lately. I'll probably end up leaving Termina tonight."

"Uh-huh," Tatl said. "Nothing like living in a swamp talking to monkeys."

"Wait, are you from outside of Termina?" Link said, suddenly very interested.

"Sure," the man answered, not having shifted at all during the entire conversation. "I've hardly been here a week."

"What's it like?" Link asked, blue eyes wide with interest. "Across the border?" Tatl looked back and forth uneasily at this conversation, not having anything to contribute herself.

"It's beautiful!" the fat man exclaimed, stopping eating for a moment to look up and visualize. "A magnificent field of flowers, as far as the eye can see; so beautiful, so filled with hope and wonder. It's one of the things I live for, sights like that, the main reason I travel as much as I do. So gorgeous..."

"So, that's where the forest ends?" Link asked, skeptical. "A field of flowers?" The pale man nodded, recommencing the process of eating. "Did you hear that, Tatl? It's not darkness; flowers."

"I don't know," Tatl said, obviously very doubtful herself. "With our luck, its probably a field of killer flowers, that suck your brains out or something like that."

Link looked at her, dumbfounded, as if not being able to understand why she would even say something as idiotic as that. "They're not killer flowers," the fat man replied peacefully. "They definitely are pretty, but they didn't take my brain."

"_That's_ up for debate, monkey boy," Tatl commented. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up, Link; like Koume said, strange things happen in those areas. It may have appeared that way to him, but I'm not so sure we'd find the same thing."

"What do you even mean by that?" Link asked, but the fairy didn't answer. "There's only one way to find out what's really out there."

"No, no Link, we're not going into the forest again," Tatl protested.

"There's no reason to be afraid; we've been through this first before."

"Yes, we have! And your girlfriend caused you to set the forest on fire. Besides, we're saving the monkey and the princess, remember?"

"I thought you wanted to just play the song of time and leave?" Link reminded her.

"Well, that was before you convinced me otherwise! But you're not convincing me this time; you said we should put the rest of our day to use. Risking our lives trying to leave Termina doesn't sound like using our time wisely; 'the four' are _in_ Termina, remember?"

Link didn't have a response to this one, still looking eagerly at the forest, Tatl at him. There was a moment of silence, the fat man continuing to eat and looking back between the two awkwardly. "So...," he began, ignoring the tense atmosphere surrounding the two, "do you need any magic beans? They sprout leaves as soon as you water them." Link turned to him, obviously put in a bad mood by Tatl's refusal to go through the forest. "That they do... they do...," the man said mysteriously, looking back and forth between the fairy and boy.

"That doesn't look like the only thing they do," Tatl commented, flying forward and noting the weight they had caused the salesman to gain. "But yes, that is why we came here. How many can we have?'

"How many can you pay for?" the salesman asked. "They're ten rupees a piece."

"Pay for?" Tatl exclaimed, taken back. She looked over at Link, who had walked up to stand beside her.

"I don't have any money," he told her, the fairy turning back to face the salesman.

"Listen bub, I'm not paying a green rupee for those beans of yours!" the fairy exclaimed, the fat man putting down his eating hand and looking up at her wide-eyed. "We almost got ourselves killed by Deku scrubs coming out here to get some; the monkey didn't say _anything_ about paying for them, and we need them to save his brother! So either you hand over the beans, or you can meet my friend here. He torched half the forest yesterday by shooting fire out of his hands, slayed five wolfos that dared to cross his path, and can turn into a Deku scrub and shoot you up with poison too! So... what do you have to say to that?"

The man, astonished, looked nervously at Link, who was looking at the fairy eyebrows raised. When he saw the salesman staring at him, Link turned to him, narrowing his eyes threateningly. He gasped, turning to his bag of beans, and then looking back up at the fairy. "Did I mention I give all of my customers one free sample?" He pulled another item from his bag, but instead of eating it, held it out to them in his open palm. It was, as he had said, a bean pod, the beans inside appearing to be multicolored.

"Why thank you!" Tatl exclaimed, allowing Link to step forward and take it, the salesman nervous as Link approached him and then backed away.

"Try planting it in some soft soil," the salesman advised him as they began to walk away. "You can always buy more." Tatl turned back and glared at him when he said this, the man's smile fading. "You can plant them whenever you want, but if you don't water them, their leaves won't grow."

"Wait, what?" Tatl asked, signaling Link to stop and flying towards the beans salesman. "You don't happen to have any bottled water, do you?" Tatl looked around eagerly at the other bags surrounding him.

"Well...," he said, remembering how the fairy had threatened him last time.

"I'm not going to take that from him too," Link said, stepping passed Tatl towards the salesman, eying the fairy as he did so. "Sorry about her; she can be a little demanding sometimes."

"Hey!" Tatl exclaimed.

"That's alright," the fat man said, looking up at Link and continuing eating. "You aren't really going to torch, slay, or poison me?"

"Probably not," Link answered as he slipped the bean pod into his bag and pulled out something else. "But I will ask to trade a bottle of water for this pictograph box. You could take a picture and savor any of those sights you come across, for later, whenever you find yourself in a dingy place like this again." He held it out for him to take, the salesman looking at it closely. "It'll make up for almost stealing the beans too."

"Well...," the fat man said, considering, "alright. You've got a deal; here, I'll even throw in two more beans." He pulled out a bottle of water and two beans, just as he had said, the bottle very similar to the one he'd bottled Tatl in, and handed them to Link.

"Thank you very much," Link said, turning away, and slipping the spare beans into his bag, holding onto the water. "Now, we'll be going. Good luck on your travels."

"And you as well!" the bean salesman said, turning the pictograph box around in his hands, examining it.

"See?" Link said as Tatl and him walked away. "Not only did I get rid of the clunky box Koume gave us, but I also got the water and the beans. You don't have to threaten or use sarcastic manipulation on _everyone_, Tatl."

"Yeah, whatever floats your boat," Tatl replied under her breath. "I'm sticking to sarcasm and manipulation." She stopped though, when it looked as if Link was going to go back into the cave. "Wait... what are you doing?"

"Going back to the palace?" Link inquired.

"Through the cave that the guards were chasing us in?" Tatl asked. "They're probably guarding the other end in case we ever decided to come back."

"Well, how else are we going to get in?" Link asked. "I'm pretty sure that the two Deku scrubs at the front won't be letting us in anymore."

"Don't you remember what the monkey said? The secret entrance where we need the beans is outside of the palace; we won't be going in in plain sight anymore."

"Oh, yeah, I didn't think about that," Link said, turning away from the cave. "I guess we should keep following this rock wall until we reach the palace?"

"I guess so, oh great and saint-like hero," Tatl commented, leading the way, glad that leaving Termina had already left Link's mind.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, you manipulative, sarcastic fairy," Link replied, uncorking the bottle of water and drinking some of its contents as they left the salesman with the new pictograph box behind.

* * *

Shikashi turned the eye piece of the telescope slightly to the right, peering intently at the moon's glowing orange eyes. They still stared intently down at the clock tower, as if determined beyond anything to reach it. The astronomer licked his dry lips nervously; it seemed that the crazy theorists were right. The sun now marked afternoon, and the old man feared he might not see it rise again. He backed away from his massive telescope, turning to look back at the two moon's tears he had on pedestals; the second one he'd found last night, the over-sized moon having produced these in abundance. He began walking towards one of them in his long blue robes, his mustache still quite long and thick itself, solid white; hunched over, he began to gaze with his mystical blue eyes at the moon's tear behind its protective class casing, now on the very edge of the platform on which his telescope resided above, all in his blue, dome-shaped observatory.

The old astronomer heard the knob to his front door turning, looking slowly around. His visitor had already entered, however, and was closing the door behind himself. Shikashi recognized the individual as the mischievous child from four days ago, and the old man turned quickly away from the orange eyes of the mask, shaking his head as he repeated "No." under his breath nervously.

"Is this how you treat your visitors?" the masked child asked, floating into the air off of the ground slightly.

"You're not a visitor," Shikashi said in his slow, aged voice, stepping off of his platform and walking over to a dresser against the wall. He began to put everything lying on top of it into the drawers, not turning around, intent on what he was doing. "You're here to break my instruments."

"I won't break your instruments if you tell me what I want to know," he promised the astronomer, his voice neither child-like nor threatening. "There is no more time for games." The Skull Kid traveled a few more feet in the air until he was hovering over the platform, coming down to rest on its surface and walking towards the old man on the other side.

"I don't believe you," Shikashi said, shaking his head again as he stowed his possessions away. "You and the rest of your little gang of kids can't be trusted."

"Gang of kids?" the Skull Kid inquired, confused. "I'm not a child."

"And I'm not a fool," Shikashi responded. "Get out! You aren't welcome here."

"You'll tell me what I want to know, or I'll blast your telescope through the roof, old man."

The astronomer stopped what he was doing once the imp said this, shaking slightly as he turned around to finally face the intruder. "Please... don't do that...," Shikashi said sadly, his voice even shakier than it normally was, his eyes shining in fear. "It's my life; I am an astronomer. I have nothing else to live for."

"Then tell me where the fairy boy went!" the Skull Kid demanded. "I know he passed through here; he used your telescope to watch me on top of the clock tower."

"A fairy boy?" Shikashi inquired, looking away as if to try and remember. "I'm afraid I don't know who it is you're talking about. I haven't let anyone use my telescope."

"I don't believe you," the Skull Kid replied dryly, still standing on the platform in the same spot, several feet away, though higher than the astronomer, who still stood on the lower floor. "You know, don't you? All about their little plan; where did they go, and what is it they're doing to try and stop me?"

"I'm sorry," Shikashi said, shaking his head sadly again as he turned to his drawer full of possessions again. "But I don't understand. I know not of a fairy or a boy."

"You must have noticed them walking by, at the least!" the Skull Kid exclaimed. "I saw them leave through the southern gate; where did they go after that?"

"I don't...," the old man stammered, but suddenly, the drawer he was in front of burst into purple flames, and Shikashi let our an old, tired scream as he backed away, his eyes wide with fear. The astronomer turned away from the dresser as it burned, looking up, back still hunched, at the masked imp on the platform.

"I'm not leaving until you answer my question," the Skull Kid said, menacingly looking down at the defenseless old man. "Have you noticed anything happening? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Shikashi was shivering now, in a pure state of terror as he tried to think and answer. "The... the moon...?"

"Not that!" the imp yelled, sighing and shaking his head in disappointment. "Anything else?"

"No!" the old man persisted. "Nothing has happened here; I just live in my observatory out by the woods. It's peaceful, and quiet, nothing ever happens. Please... don't hurt me..."

"Nothing in the forest or around it?" the Skull Kid still persisted. "Did they go into the forest, astronomer? Has anything odd been happening in the forest?"

"There... there...," Shikashi trailed off, still looking at the imp as he remembered something. "There was a fire."

"A what?"

"It must have been... very big," the astronomer began, nervously telling his tale. "There was smoke everywhere, high above the trees; the fire didn't reach my observatory, but the whole outside smelled like burning."

"A fire...," the imp said, trailing off himself as he turned away from Shikashi to think. "But there are still trees standing?"

"It didn't burn the whole forest down," Shikashi said, calming now that he'd finally been able to answer the question. "It did burn a lot though; the forest fire lasted several hours."

"Who started it?" the imp asked, whirling back to the old man as he thought himself. _Could it have been them? Was there a fire on the other three day cycles?_ He didn't think so, and if this was the case, then it had to have been in someway connected to that fairy and her new friend, the only two people besides himself who could influence events to turn out differently.

"I don't know," Shikashi answered, wondering if him not being able to answer this question would start things over again.

"Well, whoever it was, they didn't finish the job." The astronomer thought he felt a wicked smile beginning behind the mask, and narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Finished... the job?"

"You can't just burn down part of a forest!" the Skull Kid exclaimed. "Someone has to finish it."

"But why would you...?"

"Why wouldn't you?" There was a silence after this, the old man's eyes looking into the orange ones, the dresser still ablaze, crackling behind them. "I thank you old man," the imp finally said, floating down to land on the ground and turning to leave. Shikashi watched him intently, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't stop and turn around to say or do anything else.

The Skull Kid, however, did stop walking, but did not turn around. "Why do you cling so desperately to life?" he asked, his voice hinting at only pure curiosity, and no animosity.

The astronomer did not know how to answer this, still facing the imp's back; the old man, however, felt that how he answered this could mean everything regarding his survival. "So I can do what I love to do," Shikashi answered, looking away from the Skull Kid even though the imp was still facing away from him, beginning to sweat and shake from nerves. He tried to answer seriously, as if the matter was indeed merely a philosophical discussion. "And through doing that, still be myself... while I can."

The Skull Kid did not respond, still facing the door, as if thinking it over; the old man remained where he was, waiting to see what happened next. The imp, still not turning around, then thrust his arms into the arm; the portion of the telescope that was in the observatory completely crunched in on itself to form a flat disk, causing the entire upper half to come crashing down through the roof, jagged metal raining down on the room along with the entirety of the telescope. Shikashi attempted to run away from the falling debris, though his old age prevented any great speed from being possible. He, however, was spared; the telescope crashed just behind him, breaking through the floor and bringing the debris with it as it landed on the bottom level of his abode.

The Skull Kid was still facing the door, the hole in the floor not but an inch behind him, as the astronomer looked down into the hole to see his most prized possession in ruins, the sun now bright through the hole in his roof. "No...," Shikashi began, shakily. "No..." He sank to his knees as he peered in, his bright blue eyes beginning to water as they looked down in disbelief. "You didn't... you said..."

"Do you still want to live?" the imp turned around, floating over the hole to be just in front of the old man. Shikashi refused to look up, staring down at the ruin that had been his life's passion in shock.

"_Please..._," he began, still looking down as he wept. "_You've taken everything else; don't take my life_."

The imp continued to stare at him, as if challenging him to look up, but the former astronomer did not. "Then you lied to me," the Skull Kid stated. "You humans are cowards. The only reason you want to live is because you are afraid of death." And then he flew out of the hole in the roof, leaving Shikashi to mourn in the ruin of his life.

* * *

Replies to "Unrepliable" Reviews:

(Note: To all of these reviews posted to different chapters, I posted them here mostly because I wouldn't think you would notice an update in previous chapters, or because I felt like they were actually meant to be directed towards this one)

Drozan: Thanks! I've definitely made him appear much more malevolent than he ever did in the game, haven't I?

Anonymous: Thank you; glad you liked it!

Zelda Fan: They most certainly were; though I think they only became that way after Link blasted them in the face with that handy bubble ability. And thanks; I'm happy you think so!

Keiichikun: Well, I don't think this chapter answered any of your questions, but I can guarantee they will be in the chapters to follow!


	16. The Sonata of Awakening

_Chapter 16: The Sonata of Awakening_

Link saw the fortress wall standing proudly on the other side of the rock face surrounding the palace, looking up to see that the sun was almost halfway through its descent across the sky. The rock wall on their right continued onward a few hundred more feet before curving off to the left, blocking off the poisonous stream they knew was on the other side, but also blocking off the palace that he knew was just beside them. The boy in the green tunic and the fairy then found the lowest portion of the boundary separating them from their destination.

"Do you think you could climb that?" Tatl asked.

"I've climbed worse," Link replied as he walked up to its face. It was bumpy and jagged enough for it to be just possible, but the slick spots would make it difficult. "I'm more worried about the other side."

"It's close enough to the palace where you'll land on grass," Tatl reassured him. "Don't worry; it'll be fine." Link, however, looked at her as if this wasn't convincing enough. "Alright, alright; _fine_. I'll fly over the top and make sure. Happy?" Link nodded as she flew up several feet and then disappeared over the top; she returned a few seconds later. "Yep! If you climb straight up the wall, you can happily climb down the other side onto a beautiful, lush square of grass on the little island the palace is on."

"No Deku guards there?" Link asked as he put one foot on a small notch on the wall.

"Nope, it's outside the palace, and away from the front entrance. In fact, that's probably where the monkey told us to plant the beans."

"Perfect," Link said as he tested the durability of the foothold he had found; he then reached out with his arms to find holds for them, and his climb began.

"Just... don't fall and die, Link; that would kind of suck."

"Well, I _was_ planning on it, but now that you've told me not to..."

"Hey!" Tatl exclaimed. "I'm the one in charge of the sarcastic comments, alright? Didn't we establish this an hour or so ago?"

"It's rubbing off on me, Tatl," Link replied as he progressed a few more strides across the wall's surface. "Maybe if you restrained yourself sometimes, it wouldn't be as contagious."

"Restrained myself?" Tatl inquired, as she followed her partner at his pace up the wall, turning away from him as she thought about what he had said. "Like put a limit on how much of a smart mouth I can be?" Link didn't answer, now in an awkward position and having to search desperately for the next hold before he slipped. "Hm... how about only five sarcastic comments a day?" His right foot did eventually give way, causing him to gasp and put all his weight on the other; his burnt right hand also did not enjoy this, it being the only hand holding him up. "Nah; I couldn't do that." Link, dangling for those few fearful moments, did eventually bring his other foot back up, and found the hold he was looking for, finally putting his left hand there as he breathed in and out deeply.

"I think you're just going to have to suck it up, Link," Tatl began as she turned back around to face him. "Besides, I guess I can allow you to be a little sarcastic from time to time; I could take you on as my student... Whoa, what's wrong with you? Are you mad or something?"

"No," Link breathed. "I almost... fell..."

"Well why would you do that?" the fairy asked. "You said you'd changed your mind, didn't you?" Link, once again, did not have a response to this as he continued to climb. "At least you have a sense of humor... Tael, my brother; oh Nayru, you'd think we weren't related at all. He takes everything so seriously that it makes me want to slap him! ... And I do, a lot."

There was a silence after this, as Link climbed, Tatl suddenly immersed in memories of her brother. Link stopped and looked at her when he was able to, realizing why she had stopped talking. "You know, we can always go back on top of the tower if you want to," Link explained to her as he turned back to the wall. "To save Tael, and bring him with us?"

Tatl, however, shook her head after a moment's thought. "No, he's safer where he is now," the fairy reasoned. "In the three day loop with the Skull Kid, we know he doesn't get hurt. Besides, we apparently don't get very lucky when we're up there, and I don't want a scar on my chest to match yours." Link nodded at this reasoning, but kept the thought he'd had on Tael's safety to himself. This Tatl hadn't been there to witness it, but the masked imp had slain Tael, on their first encounter on the top of the clock tower.

"We almost there yet?" Tatl asked. "I don't think I've ever flown this slowly before in my life."

"You tell me," Link said, struggling in another difficult spot. "I'm concentrating on one spot at a time."

"Well then!" Tatl exclaimed, as she backed away to examine the distance he had and had yet to cover. "I'd say you're a little over half way there, fairy boy."

"Great," Link said under his breath.

Tatl flew to rejoin him as he continued to climb, the fairy nervously eying the massive rock in the sky that she knew had menacing eyes on the other side. In a couple of hours, it would be, once again, the final night. "Are you sure we're not pushing it, Link? The moon looks awfully close."

"We have over twelve hours, Tatl," he assured her, not looking at her but remaining concentrated on the task at hand.

"It doesn't take twelve hours to accidentally lose your ocarina," the fairy reminded him. "What happens if it falls into the poison water, or the Deku scrubs take it from you? Then, instead of a leisurely twelve hour stroll through the swamp, it's a race to find your instrument before the world ends."

"We have more than twelve hours," Link stressed again. "The sun's not down yet."

"You're missing the point. It doesn't matter how much time we have left if you don't have your ocarina anymore."

"It's safely on my belt," Link reassured her. "And besides, half the time I'll be a Deku scrub, and when I am, the ocarina is hidden in my human form."

"I just have a very bad feeling about all of this, for some reason. The same feeling I had before we went on top of the tower and you almost died, and that other time when we went into the forest and you almost died, and that _other_ time when..."

"Alright, alright; I get your point," Link interrupted. "We'll save the monkey, find the princess, and then get out of here, deal? No more extra time spent looking for one of 'the four', unless a clue jumps out and slaps us in the face while we're on rescue missions. We can't go back to the first day every time we have a bad feeling about something, or else we'll never get anything done."

"Fine," Tatl agreed reluctantly. "But if something goes wrong, and we somehow miraculously survive again, we're going to have a 'Listen to Tatl' three day cycle, where I get to make the decisions for once, because I feel like I haven't had any say-so yet."

"A 'Listen to Tatl' three day cycle?" Link inquired. "That doesn't sound like it'd be very exciting."

"Well, I'm sorry if you think not dying is boring! We can't rely on nerve our entire trip through Termina."

"It got us this far," Link said as his hand finally touched the top of the rock wall; it was padded with wet grass, making it difficult to pull himself up. He felt around the top for a sturdy piece of ground to pull himself up with and eventually hoisted himself up clinging to the grass floor tightly. It worked, and he pulled his legs up and sat down on the little room there was, looking to see that Tatl had been right about the other side. If he climbed directly down, he would land on a small patch of grass outside of the fortress walls; to the left was the moat of poisonous water, and to the right was the fortress itself.

"... But it's not very reliable," Tatl added after a moment of thought. "Now come on! Let's get this thing over with."

Link carefully turned around to begin climbing down, finding it much more difficult than climbing up. Tatl was silent this time to make up for this, allowing him to concentrate, and he eventually descended its surface uneventfully. Letting go of the wall once he was far enough down, his boots landed on the grass once again, bag still over his shoulders. "Good job!" Tatl congratulated. "Now it's time to see just how magical those beans are."

Link scanned the small square of grass he was on for some spot where he could plant the beans and spotted a patch of wet, moist soil up against on one of the fortress walls. He approached it, looking up the surface of the wooden boundary to see a hole at the very top, likely the entrance the monkey spoke of. He reached into his bag and pulled out one of the bean pods, getting down onto his knees and scooping a hole in the dirt with his hands. "Maybe we should have asked him how they worked," Tatl commented skeptically, as Link placed one of the beans into the hole and covered it up, patting it down.

"He said to water it, and then it would work, didn't he?" Link inquired as he pulled out the glass bottle of water he had drank from.

"But plants don't usually shoot out of the dirt and carry you into the air if you water them!" the fairy exclaimed.

"I guess that's where the magic part comes in," Link reasoned as he tipped the uncorked bottle over. The water spilled out over the bean, hidden underneath the soil, and at first, nothing happened. Link stood there, holding the uncorked bottle with hardly any water in it, the fairy just beside him, both looking blankly at the wet pile of dirt.

"That was pretty magical," Tatl commented dryly, as Link began to drink some of the water left over. "Hey! You didn't use all of it; maybe that's why nothing happened!"

"I need water, Tatl," Link replied as he corked it and put it back into his bag. "I'm not a fairy; the last time I ate or drink was at Kotake's, and I'm not going to try and refill my bottle with the... swamp water that burns my skin."

"That stupid old hag..."

"Besides, I watered it; that should be enough, shouldn't it?"

"Obviously n-"

Tatl stopped when she caught the pile of dirt out of the corner of her peripheral vision, and they both turned around to see what was happening. A small stem popped out of the dirt, protruding three light green leaves, and that was all. Link and Tatl stared at it for a moment long, as if expecting something else to happen; Link bent back down to the ground to examine it closer, the fairy coming down with him. "Is it supposed to... fly into the air, and take us with it?"

Tatl's question was answered, when suddenly a much larger plant blossomed instantaneously out of the soil; it looked like one massive, flat, thick green leaf, forming a platform, the original stem still sticking out of the middle, now thick with curly green foliage. Link stumbled onto his back in shock when this happened, quickly jumping back to his feet and approaching the new leafy platform.

"Huh," Tatl commented after a moment's silence. "Interesting." Link walked up to it tentatively, eventually stepping onto it, the plant's surface so massive as to be bigger than his entire body. The plant, however, which had seemed to lightly levitate in place, was weighed down as his boots stepped onto it, pinning it to the ground. It struggled underneath his weight, as if it was alive and attempting to fly away, but was unable to do so. "Whoa, Link; I guess you need to lay off the water after all, huh?"

"It's just because I'm a human," Link responded, regardless of her sarcasm. "Not to mention all of this stuff I have on me. I'm sure it'll lift Deku head no problem."

"You keep telling yourself that," Tatl remarked, Link shaking his head as he pulled his Deku mask out of his bag and placed it onto his face. Once again, he was instantly the small, light wooden creature, orange eyes and snout, his clothes, shield, sword, and bag vanishing. The plant instantly shot into the air, causing the surprised Link to shriek in his high pitched voice. He stumbled over to the edge but managed to stop himself before he fell over, the leaf levitating into the air off of the grass towards the hole in the fortress.

"_It's working!_" Link exclaimed happily as he rose upwards.

"Yes, yes it is," Tatl responded. "Poor humans; they have to resort to Deku scrubs and magic beans to fly."

The plant eventually reached the hole in the wooden wall, and stopped, as if having known Link's intend. He looked down as if to thank the plant, but then decided not to, wondering if it even had a consciousness of its own. The Deku scrub with the short blonde hair stepped off of the plant onto the platform on the other side of the hole. He was, once again, officially in the Deku palace, except now on a platform looking out over the garden from above. The plant outside of the entrance disappeared from view, likely going back to the soil it had come from.

"Good-bye mysterious magic plant!" Tatl called out sarcastically, obviously not receiving a response. The fairy turned to look as Link was; the platform he was on wasn't all that large, but had a Deku flower on one end. The only choice was to use this, less he leapt off of the edge only to die when he crashed into the ground painfully. "Well... the monkey didn't really say what to do after this, did he?"

"_No_," Link answered. "_But the chamber is over there in that hive thing._"

"Yeah, I know that much. Our monkey should be there, if he's still alive."

"_But he was on the left side of the room; we're on the right. I say we Deku flower onto the platform on the other side, and check out the left wing of the garden._"

"Sounds good to me," Tatl said, looking to see that, on the opposite end of the garden, there was, in fact, another platform level to their height. "But I'm going to fly; you can Deku flower." The fairy began her flight over the garden filled with Deku guards, Link disappearing into the depths of the flower as he had before. It, as always, satisfied his natural inclination as a Deku scrub to be inside of one, but he shot out immediately after entering, nonetheless, bringing with him two flowers that whirled around in continuous circles, as he began flying with them beside Tatl, kicking his feet as the petals twirled like propellers.

As they flew over, they both looked to see none of the guards noticing them; most of them were surrounding the cave entrance Link and Tatl had slipped into earlier, waiting for them to return. "Ha!" Tatl said softly upon seeing this. "Who was right?"

"_You were_," Link admitted as he turned back to the platform he'd almost reached; the flowers were beginning to slow, but he knew there were just enough strides left to make it. "_See, I listen to you sometimes, Tatl._" The petals durability then gave out, caving in on their selves and causing Link to fall, who landed on the wooden platform on the other fortress wall opposite of where they'd entered. Here was yet another passageway that they went through, bringing them into the narrow hallway that separated the left and right gardens. They were several feet above on a wooden bridge, looking down at the Deku scrubs blocking anyone from entering the main entrance; they paid no attention as Link and Tatl quietly crept across the bridge into the left garden.

"Sometimes?" Tatl asked. "That's not enough! I have great ideas that go unnoticed constantly; it's a shame, really."

"_Well, I've got one for you_," Link said as he scanned the new garden they were now above. He, however, was looking closely at the hive, and found what he was looking for: another hole in it, up high, right around where the monkey's cage was on the other side, and their was another Deku flower, once again, at his feet.

"Fly through that hole on the hive, hoping it takes you to the inside of the monkey cage?"

"_Uh... yeah, actually; that's exactly what I was going to say._"

"Then let's go save that monkey!" Tatl exclaimed, flying over to the hole as Link disappeared into the Deku flower.

* * *

Link walked slowly into the darkness of the secret entrance, leaving behind the sun that had begun to paint the sky orange. The darkness, however, was soon replaced by the frantic light of fire, and the blonde Deku scrub peered out of the passageway to see where he was. As expected, they were in the throne room; the four Deku guards were in their flowers out of sight, and the king lay apparently asleep in his chair. The butler could not be seen, the fire in the center of the room still brilliant with life. The entrance Link had come through was on one of the walls inside of the cage; inside, the floor was bare except for the tall pole on which the monkey was tied; the walls, in contrast, were decorated with a few tokens: an instrument, a painting, and some sort of artifact. The entire right wall of the cage consisted of wooden poles, the only way in or out being the passageway Link had just come from.

The monkey was still suspended high in the air, still tied tightly, staring off sadly at the floor as he allowed his feet to hang limply. He looked up when he saw a ball of white light; Link and Tatl were sitting in the entrance, the Deku scrub looking to see how far of a drop it was from to the cage floor. The monkey's eyes came alive with curiosity as he looked at the two, Link eventually deciding it was safe, sliding out, and dropping to the floor, the fairy following to be just beside him. Turning around, he realized the secret entrance was now far too high to reenter; they would have to find another way out to escape.

"Oh!" the monkey exclaimed, as if just remembering where he'd seem them before. Link and Tatl, having been walking over to be at the base of the pole, looked up at him sharply, and the small white creature realized what he'd done. He looked over his shoulder to see if the king had awoken; when it seemed he had managed to get away with his outburst, he sighed with relief and turned back to them, whispering now. "How did you get here? You have to be quiet; if they see you, they'll capture you!"

"No dip," Tatl remarked, just as quietly. "But don't worry about us; you're the one yelling your head off."

"_There's another entrance outside the palace_," Link said, answering the one question in the monkey's statement as he came to be at the bottom of the pole, looking up at the monkey far above. "_We've been sneaking passed these guys all day though, so don't worry._"

"Yeah, your brothers sent us for help," the fairy clarified further, leaving Link behind to talk face to face with the monkey, but off to the side so he could look down and see Link as well. "And you need to teach them how to talk, because seriously, they sound like complete idiots compared to you."

"What?" the monkey inquired, looked curiously at the fairy once more. "My brothers asked for your help?"

"That's what I just said... isn't it?" Tatl inquired.

"That's... odd," the monkey began, turning away before looking back at her, "I'm terribly sorry they got you into this."

"So am I," Tatl said. "We found them dancing around this-"

"Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt, but can you two please just try to cut my rope? We'll talk after that!" Tatl seemed slightly taken back at first, but then nodded her head once she thought it over.

"Sure; let's toss manners out the window and get the Din out of here," Tatl said, flying around to the back of the pole to see the tight knots holding the monkey's arms and chest together.

"What are you doing?" the monkey asked, when he saw Link merely standing there. "Quick, cut this rope!"

"_I can't reach it!_" Link exclaimed, realizing how high up the captive truly was.

The monkey sighed, turning as far as he could to try and see the fairy but being able to do so. "How's it going back there?"

"Well... you know...," Tatl said vaguely. "Just a little fairy trying to untie a rope thicker than her head; it's not really all that easy."

"Why did you two come to rescue me if you had no way of getting me down?" the monkey exclaimed quietly, suddenly infuriated.

"Some members of our team prefer to think nothing through," Tatl said dryly as she flew out from behind the pole. "Rather than logically planning things out."

"_If we'd gone with your plan, we'd of left the monkey for dead!_" Link retaliated.

"Looks like we're going to have to do that anyways!" Tatl pointed out, now just beside him again.

"Hey!" the monkey interrupted. "Please, can we focus on not getting captured? Now's not the time to argue; are you sure there's _nothing_ you can do to get me down?"

"Hm," Tatl said, thinking, before having an idea and spinning around to face Link. "Why don't you turn into a human?"

"_I still wouldn't be tall enough_," Link explained. "_The monkey's too high up._"

"You could throw your sword at it!"

"_Yeah... like that'd work; the rope is thick. I'd have to saw through it._"

"Wait, did you say turn into a human?" the monkey asked, now confused.

"He's not really a Deku scrub," Tatl answered. "It's some sort of magic mask disguise thing... but there's no time for stories, so we'll just leave it at that."

"_How'd the other Deku scrubs get you up there anyways?_" Link asked, having been looking at the pole and not following Tatl's conversation.

"What?" the monkey asked, turning back to face him. "Oh, I don't know; I was unconsciousness when they set me up here."

"So, let's think things through here," Tatl interrupted, flying to be in between the two. "We obviously can't bust you out of here, Mr. Monkey, sorry about that, but what can we do?" There was a moment of silence, both Link and the monkey turned to think. "Maybe we should try playing the Song of Time while holding onto the pole; you know, bring him with us?"

"Song of Time?" the monkey asked, curious.

"_No, we can't do that_," Link replied, shaking his head and ignoring the monkey's question. "_Then we'd leave the princess to die._"

"We don't know where she is!" Tatl exclaimed.

"The Deku Princess?" the monkey inquired, desperately trying to follow the conversation between the two but being unable to.

"_Yes, the Deku Princess,_" Link answered, turning away from Tatl to the monkey. "_What happened to her? If we can't get you out of here physically, maybe we find the princess and clear your name._"

"Link, the sun's about to set outside!" Tatl whispered to the blonde Deku scrub, flying up so that the monkey couldn't hear. "I was for that when I thought we'd have the monkey with us; we can't find her by ourselves!"

"She went into the temple," the monkey explained, Link trying his best to continue ignoring Tatl. "But you have to be a member of the royal family to go in after her!" Link, upon hearing this, looked down sadly, the fairy smiling to herself at this as she backed away from her partner.

"But...," the monkey began, causing Link to perk up and Tatl's smile to fade. The small white creature, tied high up on the pole, looked to see the instrument hanging on the wall; it looked like a network of small, brass pipes, all leading to a mouthpiece in front. "I guess all you need is one of the instruments of the royal family to do it, and then you have to know the song... and be a Deku scrub." The monkey turned to Link, smiling.

"_Is that one of the royal instruments?_" Link asked, looking at the network of horns on the wall the monkey had been looking at.

"Yes," he answered. "They're Deku pipes, just like the princess had. They should work just the same, being the king's and all." Link walked over to where they were on the wall, Tatl watching him approach them in disbelief; they were a lot lower on the wall than the monkey was on the pole, and Link was able to reach them in his Deku scrub form just barely on his tip-toes. His fingers brushed the tubing that was the lowest point on the instrument, but he didn't know if he would be able to get a firm enough grip to remove it from the mount.

The monkey watched interestingly, as if something else on his mind. "By the way," the monkey began, speaking aloud what he'd been thinking, "who are you?"

Just then, Link seemed to push the instrument over too far; without a firm grip on it, the set of pipes titled off to one side and then flipped off of the mount that had been holding it in place. Link, Tatl, and the monkey's eyes were wide with shock as they plummeted to the ground, crashing loudly, the brass ringing on the floor and reverberating throughout the entire room. The Deku King instantly jumped from his sleep, looking up at the cage to see a blonde Deku scrub, on his tip-toes having knocked over his instrument, and a fairy floating there guiltily.

The monkey, upon seeing the monarch awaken, turned quickly back to Link, suddenly extremely nervous, "Whoa! That's not important now... Just pick up that instrument and listen to me!"

Link rushed over to where it had fallen, looking to see that it seemed to have suffered only a few dents, and not more than that. He picked it up awkwardly, looking to see that it was composed of five different bells, all of them different sizes, but all relatively small so that a Deku scrub could handle it. Link began to wrestle with it to find a comfortable position for it to rest on his body, all while Tatl floated there in awe, the monkey urged him onward anxiously, and the Deku King blinked furiously at what he was seeing, trying to shake off the sleep he'd been abruptly brought out of.

"Listen, I'll start singing you the notes to the song while you keep figuring that out!" the monkey exclaimed urgently, taking in a deep breath as he tried to clear his mind. "It's called the Sonata of Awakening, and it's just a short seven note rhythm, so it shouldn't be that hard to memorize." The monkey then began to sing the notes to the song, Link trying to listen to these as he suddenly found a hole for his head to slip through in the piping. From this position, the tubing wrapped around his shoulders to support the five bells surrounding his head, the mouthpiece comfortably just in front of his snout. The fingers on his right hand rested on valves, obviously controlling through which pipe the airflow went, and all together, the Deku pipes fit naturally on him.

"You!" the Deku King suddenly boomed, jumping from his chair now that he recognized Link and Tatl, staring at the intruders intently. The guards in the Deku flowers seemed to hear this, and began to sleepily arouse from their flowers.

Link, upon seeing and hearing this, turned eagerly back to the monkey, trying his best to concentrate on the notes he was singing. Link nodded his head once he recognized the beginning of the phrase, humming the notes to himself; he then blew into the pipes, but had expected his ocarina, instead receiving a loud, horrendous blare. Link shook his head and the monkey stopped, suddenly very worried that this wouldn't work.

"_Keep singing the song,_" Link explained, looking nervously at the awaking guards. "_I can recognize the pitches; I'll learn how to play it on the pipes later._" The monkey nodded quickly, continuing to sing the notes over and over again.

"Link...," Tatl said nervously as she flew to be beside him.

"_Be quiet!_" Link exclaimed, not breaking eye contact with the monkey.

"Everyone, did you hear that?" the Deku King yelled loudly, over the fire and singing monkey, the guards just now completely exiting their flowers and picking up their spears, looking half awake at their ruler. "This melody, which only the Deku Royal Family knows... it proves the foolish monkey deceived the princess so he could enter the temple!" The guards all jumped around at this, looking at the cage and suddenly realizing there were intruders there; the butler also walked out from the behind the chair, presumably from some other room, looking at the events taking place in confusion.

"Link, we've got to get out of here!" Tatl exclaimed after hearing the Deku King.

"_Hold on!_" Link replied, turning back eagerly to the monkey. "_One more time._"

"Guards," the king said, slamming his tall staff with the flower on top onto his chair. "Let the monkey's punishment commence! And as for the intruders... let them suffer the same fate; tie them all, and we shall burn the traitors together!"

"Link, come on, we have to go," Tatl pleaded.

"_Okay, I think I have it,_" Link said, still looking up at the monkey. "_Are you sure we can leave?_"

"Just find the princess and bring her back as soon as you can!" the monkey reminded them. "Take the path the Deku people use to get there, and don't forget to play that song with those pipes when you're there!"

"Arrest them!" the Deku King finally stated, two of the four guards charging for the cage, spears raised. Link turned to face them, elevated on the cage floor and separated by the wooden bars, Tatl by his side. He went to reach for his mask, but the instrument prevented him from doing so, and suddenly Link was trying to get the pipes from over his head.

"Come on Deku head, hurry!" Tatl exclaimed. "Get your mask off so you can fight them!"

\ "_I... can't... get it... off!_" Link exclaimed, struggling to do so, but failing. He soon realized there wouldn't be enough time to do this, and took his hands off of the pipes around his head as he began to summon up a green bubble in his snout. The Deku guards had begun to open a section of the wooden gate on hinges that had been tied tightly shut; as soon as they opened it, however, the two guards were greeted with the blast of green goo, dropping their spears and trying to fling as much off of their selves as they could.

Link leapt out of the open gate onto the throne room's floor, the Deku pipes still around his head and the fairy joining him. He turned to face the exit, but was attacked before he could begin to go in that direction. One of the two guards not covered in green goo had reached him and thrust their spear forward to impale him. Link managed to sidestep this, and would have gracefully dodged it had it not been for his Deku pipes; the spear ended up caught between two bells and was stuck, stopping Link's intent to spin around towards the door when the Deku pipes were suddenly pulling on his neck. He managed to slip out of the pipes as this happened, the guard's spear now weighed down by the instrument and crashing to the floor. The guard struggled to pull the spear free as the now freed Link reached him before he could, shoving the guard away from the instrument and pulling the spear free on his own.

The second guard was already upon him and thrusting his spear, Link sidestepping this one as he'd intended to the first one, using the spear he'd acquired to, in the process of sidestepping, fling his opponents spear high into the air out of his hands. Link then pointed his own to be directly in front of the Deku scrubs unarmed face, causing him to gulp, the two now on the other side of the fireplace away from the exit. Link smiled to himself, and was about to speak when he was suddenly slammed upside the head.

The blonde headed Deku scrub was flung backwards several feet towards the fireplace, landing just in front of it rather than inside of it, his head throbbing with pain as he lost possession of the spear that had now rolled away. The Deku King was standing where Link had just been, thick staff still raised, the culprit behind striking Link. The monarch then dropped his staff, it clattering on the floor behind him. Link, still disoriented from the blow, began to look up and see the king approach him, who paused to pick up the spear Link had dropped before continuing.

The king raised the spear as he approached Link, Link's eyes growing wide when he realized what was happening. "Link, no!" Tatl exclaimed, flying to help. She, however, was batted away with a spear before she could, by the only guard still remaining and armed. The Deku King raised it high over his head, the tip of the weapon sharp and gleaming, and Link came to just in time to see what was happening.

The spear came down, only to be stopped halfway through its descent, it now being the monarch who was hit upside the head. The Deku King, rather than flying across the room as Link had, fell to his side; he dropped the spear, and unlike Link, seemed to be completely unconscious. The young Deku scrub looked up to see who had saved him, and saw none other than the butler, his green mustache long and thin, having picked up the king's dropped staff do the job.

The room was suspended in silence for only a moment, the butler standing over his master whom he'd just knocked out, the fire crackling just behind Link, who looked up astonished, the two guards still irritated trying to rid their selves of the green goo, the other two, one armed and one not, standing appalled next to the fairy, and the monkey behind everyone, still tied to his post in the cage. The butler was the first to move, tossing the king's staff aside and bending down to offer a hand to Link; the small Deku scrub took this and got to his feet, holding his sore head as he looked up at the tall Deku scrub in confusion.

"Go," the butler simply said, pointing to the exit. "Take you friend, get out of here, and save the princess."

"_But..._," Link stammered, looking up at him in confusion. Tatl, meanwhile, looked back and forth to see that the guards were too stupefied over what had just happened to do anything else, and then flew over to join Link. "_I don't understand; why are you helping us? Who are you?_"

"I...," the butler began, looking away from Link into the fire, before having a thought and turning back to him. "Who are _you_?"

"_I don't understand._"

"You don't just look like my son," the butler began, eyes suddenly beginning to water. "You _are_ my son." Link wasn't sure how to respond, looking at the butler in complete confusion.

"Link, let's just go," Tatl persisted, urging him towards the exit.

"_What do you mean?_"

"Just listen to your fairy and go...," the butler persisted, turning away sadly.

"_But I don't..._"

"Just go!"

Link did not continue, though still looking up sadly at the Deku scrub who had saved him. Their eyes met for only a moment longer, before Link gave in, turning away with Tatl following him. He picked up the Deku pipes on his way out, giving the butler one last glance before disappearing back into the outside world.

* * *

Replies to Visitor reviews:

Drozan: Thanks! My main concern with the Skull Kid scenes _is_ developing his character; bringing him into the time loops has allowed me to do things with him that the game couldn't.

Anonymous: Ha, your welcome! I intend to respond to every review made to my story, whether it's in a PM or in a note at the bottom; I greatly appreciate anyone that stops to comment on what I've written. And it definitely looks that way; I'm not sure if Link and Tatl know what exactly it is they're doing. The Skull Kid is much quicker because he has one clear motive that he can focus on: finding them.


	17. The Temple

_Chapter 17: The Temple_

"This is the palace of the Deku Kingdom. Only those on official business may enter!" The Deku scrub on the left rolled his eyes, looking gloomily at the purple water hardly stirring in front of him; the one on the right, standing erect and tall, looked off into the sky mixed orange and blue, proudly, repeating himself again, "This is the palace of the Deku Kingdom. Only those on official business may enter!"

"Please; shut up," the one on the left said, sighing as he looked over at his companion, the two of them still at their post blocking the main entrance to the palace.

"I have to be prepared for the next commoner that comes by! His royal highness will not stand for mediocrity!"

"His royal highness doesn't care how we greet our commoners," the other Deku scrub pointed out. "He just wants you to think he does, so you'll work hard at it."

"Preposterous!" the right Deku scrub cried out, refusing to look at the one on his side and continuing to stare up into the sky. "This is the palace of the Deku Kingdom. Only those on official business may enter!"

"Seriously," the other said, looking away from his companion as he stared off dreamily. "Don't you think there's more to life than just... being a guard, and greeting commoners? Imagine, if we could travel the world, see it all, and go on adventures. Everyday, something new and exciting; beautiful, gorgeous views; breath-taking battles; romantic nights with your one true love, the one somewhere out there meant for you..."

"There is no time for such foolishness," the Deku scrub standing tall persisted. "Our lives are indebted to our king, and we must survive our great leader by guarding this entrance!"

"What if... our king... really isn't all that great after all?" the other Deku scrub said, restrained as if he wasn't sure about what he was saying.

The right Deku scrub turned away from the sky at this, looking down at his companion with pure shock on his face. "How could you say something so blasphemous!" he screamed. "Our leader is great, and you have no right to question him!" He turned grumpily back to the sky. "This is the palace of the Deku Kingdom. Only those on official business may enter! This is the palace of the Deku Kingdom. Only those on official business may enter! This is the palace of the-"

The Deku scrub was cut short, however, when suddenly he flew out of his Deku flower, wailing the whole way as he arced through the air, eventually coming down to crash into the purple water. The one on the left looked dumbfounded at what had just happened, and turned in confusion at a small Deku scrub with blonde hair running over the now empty flower and onto the bridge crossing over the water. He was carrying a set of Deku pipes, presumably what he'd stopped to hit his companion with, and a small white fairy followed, both traveling as quickly as possibly to reach the other side and leave the palace behind.

"So, that didn't exactly turn out the way we hoped," Tatl commented, flying swiftly alongside Link as he ran, still in Deku scrub form. He was running awkwardly with the Deku pipes, trying his best to not trip while still making a decent amount of progress fast enough. "The king's unconscious, the monkey's still in his cage, we left a few guards incapacitated; all apart of your cherished tactic of improvisation though, right?"

"_This thing... is getting heavy..._," Link said, breathing in and out as he stopped running just before reaching the wooden doorway leading to the boat dock.

"Well, don't stop now!" Tatl exclaimed, as she looked to see the two Deku guards they'd ambushed running back into the palace. "We'll have the hundreds of guards in the gardens on us in just a few seconds!"

"_We're not going that way_," Link said, pointing towards a small piece of land with a Deku flower on it, not far from the part of the bridge he was on. It was up against the rock wall the wooden doorway was on, a cave forming another doorway just above the Deku flower. "_I think the butler said that would take us to the temple._"

"... You know, I specifically recall making only two stipulations before we set out on this journey, and I'm pretty sure one of them was _not_ going into the temple," Tatl said dryly.

"_The princess is in there, Tatl_," Link said, awkwardly setting down and letting go of the Deku pipes.

"And? Let's let her pray in peace! I have no intention to worship Deku Gods."

"_We're not going there to worship Deku Gods_," Link said, shaking his head as he removed his mask and instantly transformed into a human. "The monkey said there was a monster there."

"An even better reason not to go!" Tatl said as Link reached down and picked up the Deku pipes that were much lighter in his human form.

"We can't just let her die," Link repeated, putting the Deku mask once again over his face; he transformed into his young, Deku scrub body, his Deku pipes disappearing with his human form.

"How many times am I going to have to remind you that anything we do in this three day cycle means absolutely nothing, before you finally change your mind?" Tatl asked, sighing.

"_You won't_," Link answered, hopping across the purple water over towards the piece of land with the Deku flower. "_If we don't save her, she's going to die, even if we leave this three day cycle behind._"

Tatl opened her mouth to point out that the moon was going to kill everyone anyways, but when Link turned around to face her, his bright orange eyes still filled with determination, she thought better of it and merely sighed again, flying across the water to join him. "Then come on Link," Tatl said. "Let's get this over with before it's too late." Link smiled at this, hopping into the flower, and shooting himself out into the cave far up on the wall.

Tatl and Link traveled through the cave, it taking them on the other side of the rock wall. They stepped out onto a grass ledge, walking a few feet further before stepping off onto the squishy surface of one of the tall trees growing out of the water, with red, mushroom-like tops. The other side of the small purple river was still thick forest on top of the opposite rock face, the dock being on their side of the stream, just in front of the wooden doorway leading to the palace. Link turned to see that the red trees were close enough to jump from one to the other, curving along with the poisoned swamp water.

"_We can use the trees like stepping stones_," Link suggested, deciding whether or not the next tree was too far away to jump.

"Yeah, and then you can slip and drown!" Tatl said, mocking his voice, Link not responding. "You might not be able to jump that far."

"_It's not that far away_," Link said.

"Yeah, Link, but it's still..." The Deku scrub, however, took a few steps backwards to get a running start, and then leapt towards the next tree top before she could finish. "_Link!_" He traveled a few feet up into the air before landing safely on the next mushroom top, stumbling slightly, but quickly regaining his balance and walking across towards the next end, Tatl still surprised on the first one. She eventually flew to rejoin him. "Don't... do that again." Link turned to face her, one eyebrow raised, after she said this. "Not the jumping thing; just don't do anything stupid and dangerous before I can finish telling you how stupid and dangerous it is."

Link scoffed, backing up and leaping onto the next tree as Tatl held her breath. He barely missed it, slipping off of its surface and grabbing onto its edge with his hands. Tatl flew over to him quickly, but by then, he was already pulling himself back on top of the tree and getting to his feet. There wasn't another tree close enough to jump onto, but a large, fallen tree trunk, having once been perched on top of the opposite rock wall with the others, now diagonally sloped downward from that rock wall, its other end stopping on the grass ledge on the other side banking the water. Link stepped down from the mushroom tree top onto the fallen tree trunk, following it up to be on top of the rock wall right next to the forest.

"This seems like a lot of work," Tatl said. "You'd think there'd be an easier way to get to the temple."

"_Maybe there is_," Link reasoned. "_We're trying to get there secretly though, remember?_"

"Still," the fairy said, as Link hopped down from the rock wall once another red topped tree was just beside him, "they could have planted Deku flowers on the tops of the trees; wouldn't that have made it easier?"

"_Then it wouldn't have been as secretive_," Link replied, hopping over onto the next tree. In doing this, he rounded a corner of the rock wall, having now progressed quite a ways down the purple stream. Around this corner, the stream turned to the right, disappearing into another cave in the rock wall, Link realizing that this was where the loop completed; through that cave eventually should be the tourist center where Koume was. To the left, there were two massive pillars against the wall, running the entire length of the rock face, in between them a waterfall of poisoned water cascading down into the stream. Both pillars had a ledge perched high, separated by the waterfall; on one pillar, the right one, was a doorway and a Deku flower, and on the other one, just a Deku flower. There was also one of these plants at Link's feet, which would make it possible for him to reach the ledge on the left pillar.

"Wouldn't have been as secretive?" Tatl said, smiling down at Link.

"_Let's just go through that doorway_," Link replied dismissively, diving into the flower, hopping out, and using the rotating flowers to reach the ledge on the left side of the waterfall. He then used the Deku flower there to reach the opposite edge, passing through the doorway into the area beyond.

What he found, was an area very similar to the Deku palace. It was completely surrounded by rock wall, making an enclosed circle rather than a rectangular one, and the area itself was filled with purple water, the lake's only exit being the waterfall just beside Link, who'd stepped out onto the only piece of land in the entire vast sea of purple. A network of wooden bridges and slopes started at Link's right, however, and slowly curved up and to the right until they reached the opposite side of the lake, where a wooden platform stood. The major difference, was that there was no palace; just empty, violet water. Two dead, tall, thick trees had their tops sticking out of the water, but other than that, only lily pads and other random plant life floated on the surface.

"... Great temple!" Tatl finally said, commenting on the empty void. "But drat; no princess! Guess we'd better go get Koume and Kotake and play the Song of Time."

Link looked up at her in obvious irritation at her constant sarcasm. "_We can still follow the bridges up to that wooden thing on the other side._"

"You mean that empty wooden platform?" Tatl asked. "There's nothing on it!"

"_From here it doesn't look like it_," Link said, skipping across the water's surface until he landed on the first of the wooden ramps, beginning to follow the network up and around, Tatl joining him.

"I think the moon and the sun disagree," Tatl said, looking up at the threatening face of the massive gray rock, whose size suggested time was not on there side, and the sun, which still vividly colored the sky, now over halfway through its descent. "The moon is about to kill us all, and the sun's going to set in a couple of hours."

"_It's not going to take a couple of hours to follow these ramps_," Link pointed out.

"Obviously," Tatl replied. "But let's say you find something on that platform we're headed towards."

"_Then I'll figure out what to do with it within a couple of hours_."

"Of course you will."

The journey across the edge of the lake was a short one, and soon they were approaching their destination. Link noticed that, on the back rock wall behind the wooden platform, there was yet another massive cave, this one larger than all the others he had previously found. When the Deku scrub and fairy stepped onto the wooden platform, they found a Deku flower there, likely used to reach the cave on the back wall. Other notable characteristics were the four poles at each corner of the wooden square from which decorative, colorful banners were hung; in the center was a round, raised pedestal with a picture of a Deku scrub on it. All of this was on the wooden platform they'd seen from the other side of the lake, held up by the wooden supports disappearing into the water.

Link began to look around the platform with growing dismay, as if having hoped to find something more helpful; Tatl, however, floated down towards the pedestal, looking at the picture on it interestingly. "Isn't this the Deku scrub mark?" she asked. "I wonder if they worshiped _here_."

"_On this platform?_"

"Sure," Tatl replied, flying back up from the pedestal. "It's all decorated and stuff."

"_But the princess isn't here_," Link commented as he looked around the wooden surface one more time.

"Maybe she's in that cave," the fairy theorized, looking onto the back rock wall's hole; its depths were veiled in darkness. Link, upon hearing this, turned to her quickly, Tatl looking over at him in confusion. "What?"

"_Will you go in there for me?_" Link asked, trying his best to look as helpless as possible.

"What?" she exclaimed. "There's a Deku flower right there, lazy bones! ... Alright, fine." Tatl finally gave in, sighing as she flew across the water and into the cave.

Link, meanwhile, looked down at the pedestal, now alone on the platform in the middle of the lake. He looked at the colorful picture Tatl had pointed out, and wondered what it could mean, and what the purpose of this wooden construction could be. A shrine? _ ... __you have to be a member of the royal family to go in after her! But... I guess all you need is one of the instruments of the royal family to do it, and then you have to know the song... and be a Deku scrub._

Link suddenly had an idea, turning away from the pedestal eagerly and grabbing the edges of his Deku face. The mask was once again removed, the Deku pipes clattering onto the wooden surface as he became a human again; he then reapplied the mask, and, now a Deku scrub, he picked up the instrument and began to try and put it around his head, standing on the pedestal as he did so. He struggled for a few seconds before the naturally comfortable position was found again; the pipes wrapped around him comfortably, the five bells flaring out around his head, and the mouthpiece was just in front of his snout. The Deku scrub then began to blow into the instrument, listening to the horrific noises coming from the horns, no matter which of the valves he pressed down.

Tatl came flying out of the cave moments later, speedily going towards the wooden platform. "Link! This Great Fairy was shattered too! I... Link?" She stopped short when she noticed what he was doing: standing on the pedestal, making disgusting sounds on the Deku pipes, squinting in pain as he did so. "What are you doing?" she asked, as she flew to be just beside him.

Link took his face away from the mouthpiece and turned his orange eyes towards her. "_Playing the instrument_." He then went back to doing just that, experimenting with his embouchure and air speed as he produced sound.

"I can see that," Tatl said, flying to be just in front of him. "But what is it that you hope to accomplish?" Link didn't respond, continuing to try and play the pipes. "Are you trying to summon the Deku Gods? Something tells me they wouldn't be able to help us, even if they _were_ real."

"_How do you know they aren't real?_" Link asked, turning away from his mouthpiece to say this, but turning back to it as soon as he had.

"Because...," Tatl stopped, however, considering the matter as Link blared in the background. "Well, I guess I don't. But that's not the point!" Tatl spun back around to be face to face. "I highly doubt you're seriously trying to summon Deku deities; so what is it you _are_ trying to do?"

Link finally sighed, taking the mouthpiece away from his snout yet again. "_The monkey said you had to play that sonata to enter the palace; that's what I'm doing_."

"How is playing a song going to get us into a temple that doesn't exist?" Tatl asked. "When the monkey said that, I was thinking more along the lines of a guard, that would let us in as soon as he heard the song; songs can't physically _do_ anything."

"_What about the Song of Time?_" Link asked, before turning back to the instrument as before.

Tatl thought about this, turning away and shaking her head as soon as she had. "Hyrule must be a really magical place, Link; before you came into my life, there were no magic songs, or transformation masks, or time travel, or super beans, or... anything, really. Wow; my life must have been pretty boring." She stopped talking when she realized Link wasn't listening, still trying to figure out how to play the instrument. "How long are you planning on doing that?" There was no response, and Tatl looked once more at the sun and moon. "Hopefully not too long, Deku head."

As time passed, the Deku pipes continued to make horrible noises, while Tatl floated around the platform aimlessly in silent boredom. The sun continued to shine fiercely about the clear sky, growing ever closer towards reaching the horizon, the orange sky darkening into other colors; the moon remained above everything, hard and cold, baring down on the world it sought to crush with gritted teeth. At first, Tatl attempted to some what pay attention to what Link was doing, noticing the quality of the notes progressively improving, but soon she found it too tedious to remain attentive to. Eventually, moseying around in circles became tedious as well, and she laid down on the wooden surface, the blaring horn growing ever more distant as she laid there. Each blink became heavier than the last, the sky darkening as her consciousness began to drift away, the Deku pipes fading into her rambling mind.

She wondered how long Link would take, wishing beyond anything that he would listen to her advice and play it safe. "I hear you sis," Tael said, the purple fairy flying by Tatl's side as the two ventured across Termina's field.

"He's just so infuriating sometimes!" Tatl exclaimed, turning to her brother. "We argue with each other just as much as _we_ used to."

"I missed you, Tatl," he confessed, as the two remained flying side-by-side. "The Skull Kid scares me now; ever since he found that mask, I don't think he's been the same person anymore."

"I hear you," Tatl agreed. "We need to find the four before it's too late; we can't keep going back in time forever."

"We should go to the border of Termina first!" Link persisted, his dark blue eyes looking up at her eagerly as he sprinted through dense tree after tree.

"Hey, Link, I don't know if this is a good idea!" Tatl exclaimed as she desperately tried to follow.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Link asked. "We'll be fine; if anything bad happens, the ocarina will save us!"

"_**Fire.**_"

"But we have to spend our time looking for the four!" Tatl reminded him, trying her best to keep up with her companion.

"_**Must burn.**_"

"We have an infinite amount of time, Tatl!" Link reminded her, from far ahead in the forest, herself not able to keep up. "The ocarina will save us!"

"_**They all die.**_"

"But what if you lose it?" the white fairy asked, almost completely losing sight of him in the high speed pursuit. "What if it stops working? What if the Skull Kid finds us?"

"_**Every time you play the song.**_"

And then, Link and Tatl, were standing side by side, at the edge of the forest, looking out at the wondrous sight in front of them. A field of flowers, colorful and magnificent, rolling on into the sunset as far as the eye could see; nothing at all to taint the beauty. It was splendid, glorious; nothing undermined its grace. There was so much color, so much life, so much innocence.

"Come on Tatl; it's amazing!" Link exclaimed, smiling broadly as he pointed towards the endless field.

"It is, isn't?" Tatl asked, her skepticism slowly subsiding in the presence of such beauty. However, soon she thought passed it, and suddenly turned to Link eagerly. "No; this isn't right. Link we have to go back."

"Why not?" Link asked, turning back to the flowers. "Hyrule has to be out there somewhere."

"No, you won't be able to find it!" Tatl pleaded. "Please Link! There's something very wrong about this place; it scares me. It would scare you too if you thought about it."

"You can't be scared of the unknown, Tatl," Link replied, stepping into the flowers.

"Link, no!"

The flowers melted away, into darkness, the sky black, lightning and thunder rolling across the empty fields of death. "Termina is darkness!" she heard Link yell, but from where, she knew not.

"Link, where are you?" she asked; lost, scared.

"Termina is death!"

"I can't see!"

"_**And it is my child!**_"

The ground shook, and suddenly Tatl's eyes shot wide open. She leapt from the pedestal, breathing in and out rapidly, spinning around and trying to take in her surroundings all at once as her dreams began to fade away. The first thing she noticed was the sky, which was not black, but darker than it had been when she had dozed away into her dream infested sleep. The sun was now touching the horizon, and she wondered how long she'd been asleep, looking down to see Link still standing on the pedestal. The mouthpiece of the Deku pipes, however, was no longer in his mouth, and the small, blonde Deku scrub was staring with wide orange eyes at something behind her. Tatl, once again, noticed that the ground was shaking, and turned around to find its source.

The entire bowl of rock holding the purple lake had begun to tremor, and in the very center of the water, where the two dead trees were, the poisoned liquid began to rise, forming a small hill. The water surrounding it followed suite, as the shaking grew to that of an earthquake, Tatl realizing that something massive was rising out of the water, the two dead trees on top of it. The horned mound of purple water continued to grow larger and larger, filling the empty lake that had once been there. As the gigantic mountain continued to grow, the water began to fall off of the object that was lifting from underneath, revealing a stone building of some sort: a temple.

The tall, stone temple, with a flat top, had floor after floor disappearing down into the water, its true size vertically unknown. The portion sticking out of the water was tall, a ledge running around it at the halfway point almost level with the wooden platform, several feet away from it despite its large size. The ledge was just below a doorway on the temple, an entrance, and Link realized that the Deku flower just beside him was not used only for reaching the fairy fountain behind.

Link and Tatl stood dumbfounded for a moment, each staring in awe at the temple that had risen out of the water. "... _I think that might be Woodfall_," Link said after the moment of silence.

"Yeah," Tatl said, still dazed by her dream and what happened when she awoke.

"_You okay?_" Link asked, turning to face her.

"I'm fine," she lied. "I just had a bad dream."

"_Well,_" Link began, turning back to the building. "_I know how much you love temples; if we go in there, you'll probably feel better._"

"Shut up, Link," Tatl replied, smiling slightly. "I'll meet you over there by the doorway."

Link stepped down from the pedestal to enter the Deku flower, but stopped when he realized the Deku pipes were still around him. He, after a moments decision making, slid the instrument off of him and left it on the pedestal, diving into the flower, shooting out, and then riding the flowers towards the ledge on the temple. For a moment, he thought he wouldn't make it, but he kicked his feet furiously, refusing to give up, and barely landed with both feet on the cold, dark stone surface.

Tatl and Link stood together looking into the darkness of the doorway, both appearing hesitant to enter. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Tatl asked, turning to her Deku scrub companion.

"_If there's a chance that the princess is in there_," Link began, "_yes._"

The fairy turned to look at the sun; in several minutes, it would completely set. "I'd say we only have twelve hours until the next sunrise; that is when it falls, right?"

"_The Skull Kid sped it up both times I went there_," Link replied. "_But I don't think he will if we don't go to the top._"

"Well... just to play it safe, we should get out of there by midnight, alright?"

Link nodded, stepping into the darkness of the doorway, his fairy lighting the way.

* * *

Link could not see anything outside of Tatl's small radius of light; the first room inside of the temple was completely and utterly devoid of light. Even if they had entered at noon, Link didn't think that the sun's intensity would reach but five feet through the doorway. Given the darkness, Link could not see the shape of the room he had entered; he had no idea how tall it was, or how far it went, but he wagered it was massive. The air inside was very cold and damp, Link pacing his way carefully by looking at his feet, able to see the floor from the light Tatl provided.

"This is really creepy, Link," Tatl whispered, the two huddled close together as they walked slowly, her voice echoing across the empty room.

The dark floor made of individual stone bricks went on for only a little while before it cut off; Link, almost not attentive enough, noticed just in time before he stepped off of this ledge. The floor simply ended, leading into a massive black pit, the bottom of which could not be seen. Link and Tatl began to walk up and down the ledge where the floor cut off, to see if it continued anywhere else; it didn't. The floor stopped at that point the entire length of the large room; the only helpful discovery they did make was a withered Deku flower, appearing ancient. "What a bummer," Tatl said. "I guess we have to leave now."

"_I could use this to get across_," Link suggested, as he peered down at the pathetic plant.

"Are you crazy?" Tatl snapped. "You might as well leap off the edge and hope there's a gigantic pillow at the bottom; look how old it is!"

"_We have to try_."

"No we don't! You don't even know how big across this hole is; it could go on for miles, for all we know!"

"_Why don't you fly across and see?_" Link asked, looking up from the flower, his face lit by the fairy.

"... By myself?" Tatl asked, turning to face the darkness. "... Fine. Man, the things I do for you!" She tentatively floated off of the floor, now suspended over the dark chasm, and flew across to where she hoped another side would be; eventually, she did find another side. The hole in the floor merely cut from side to side in the middle of the room; the distance would easily be manageable. Link watched Tatl turn around to face him, her ball of light from all the way across the room all he could see; he, himself, had been left in darkness. "I guess... if you really want to try this."

"_Thanks Tatl_," Link said, trying his best to call out as quietly as possible. "_Do you think you could come over here and light the way for me?_" The fairy agreed, returning to his side as he hesitantly stepped up to the flower. He took a deep breath, and then jumped inside. The satisfying feeling he usually received wasn't nearly as strong, the plant being quite weak and old, but he hoped it would be enough to cross the gap as he sprang out of its depths and brought two of the flowers with him.

Tatl followed him halfway up into the air as the petals opened up and began to rotate, Link directing them to carry him across the dark hole. He tried his best to refrain from looking down, the fairy ending up lighting below him so he could see where the floor started; it still had yet to appear, Tatl only lighting more hole as he directed the flower onward and the fairy followed from underneath. Link's eyes nervously darted from the flowers to the hole, wondering when her light would reveal the other side.

Before it did, something else happened first: a buzzing noise came to life, lasting only a second before it died away. The flying Deku scrub quickly looked over in the direction the noise had come from, but only looked into darkness, the fairy below him the only light. Link turned back to the hole, telling himself he'd merely imagined it, but as soon as he did, the noise returned, and it didn't stop. It progressively grew louder, sounding as if it was heading straight for him. Tatl, from far below, stopped flying when she heard this, turning in curiosity.

Link, as soon as he turned his head the second time, was face to face with two bright yellow eyes. His gasp instinctively turned into a green bubble, it flying flat and uncharged from his snout as his arm seized in pain, something having struck it. He was unable to hold one of the flowers as the muscles in that arm tightened, it spiraling out of his injured hand, Link now spinning downwards, all of his weight on the remaining flower as the yellow eyes were suddenly darkened by green goop, the buzzing noises turning into shrieks. The Deku scrub squeezed his eyes shut as he clung to the only thing keeping him from free fall, his right arm tight and painful. The petals did not last, folding in quite quickly from the strain his weight put on them, Link then plummeting straight downwards. He landed halfway on a cold, stone surface, his legs still dangling over the pit he'd attempted to cross, only his torso and head making it.

Link instantly began to slide off, quickly grabbing the stone floor to stop himself, his right hand not complying, remaining useless with the rest of his arm. His left wasn't quite enough, however, hardly stopping himself on the slick surface, he desperately trying to press down on it in the absence of a strong hold. Tatl was then in front of him, grabbing onto his arm and trying to pull as Link slid slowly but didn't stop. "Come on!" the fairy exclaimed, her small body not anywhere near enough strength.

She looked up when something landed on the stone floor a few feet away from them, hardly visible in the dark. Whatever creature had attacked Link was now wrapped in the gooey cocoon of green that had come from the Deku scrub's snout, its wings tangled and it having managed to fall onto the other side rather than into the pit. It rolled around the floor madly, trying to free its legs and wings, its yellow eyes angrily glaring from underneath the tangle. Tatl noticed a long, slender tail sticking out, having avoided being caught up in the mess; it had a sharp, glistening end that she realized was a stinger, being what had incapacitated Link's arm.

The creature eventually calmed, stopping itself from rolling around and breathing in deeply to steady itself, as Tatl turned back to helping Link, in vain. It then lowered its tail toward its body, sliding the stinger underneath the goop and then flinging it out to rip it off. It continued this process, freeing itself with each flick of its tail, the green flung off into the pit as its legs began to flex with freedom.

"_Come on, come on, come on_," Tatl whispered to herself, the small Deku scrub kicking his dangling legs wildly as his left arm, aided by the fairy, clung to nothing, Link unable to shake his right arm awake. The fairy, realizing she only had few precious seconds left, had an idea the next time she removed herself from his arm and looked into his orange eyes. She flew into his face, desperately running the small hands in her shiny orb across the surface of his Deku face, Link realizing what she was trying to do and then concentrating on entering the mindset he always did when removing his mask. Doing this was difficult, given the intense concentration his adrenaline commanded of him as he clung to the edge for life.

In only a few seconds, however, the mask was removed, Tatl tossing it behind them onto the floor as Link's human arms instantly returned to him. Initially, his arms slid completely off, his body having to adapt to its new form in that half of a second, but his hand gripped the edge before it was too late. He pulled himself out of the ditch and got to his feet, panting as Tatl flew up to be face to face with him.

Before either of them could speak, they heard an excited buzzing noise to their side, Link turning to see darkness and Tatl finally able to see that the creature was a monstrous dragon fly. It had made it to its feet, its wings still damp and useless, but the tail with the stinger still swished behind itself dangerously. "Wh...?" Link began, but Tatl interrupted.

"_Get down!_" she shrieked, Link's blue eyes still wide and searching as he heard something coming towards him. Link dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way and further from the pit as he drew his sword and returned to his feet, the dragonfly's tail having cut just above him. His eyes continued searching madly, blinded only by Tatl's light in the middle of darkness. The fairy noticed what was wrong at his squinted face, flying to be right next to the dragonfly in order to highlight his target.

Link's eyes then adjusted as he identified the dragonfly, its yellow ones baring down on him angrily. The next time it swung its tail, it met Link's blade, the end with the stinger spinning off, the stub at the end spraying some sort of unknown, yellowish substance as the dragonfly howled. This wasn't enough, apparently, and it then charged its face at Link, as if prepared to eat him. Link's sword was still at the ready, though, and its face was unable to resist its pointed end, caving in with ease. Link pulled the sword out, it now coated in the same goop that had come from its tail, the massive dragonfly stumbling over to the side, dead.

More buzzing could be heard from over the pit, however, as Tatl returned to his side. Link's blade now dripping with the dead creature's innards, he kept it by his side, backing slowly away from the pit as he realized there were far more than one. "... _Link_," Tatl began nervously, he not needing to be told twice. He spun around, making sure to grab the Deku mask as he ran away from the pit and dead dragonfly.

"Make sure there aren't anymore holes," Link breathed, as he looked down at the ground shrouded in darkness, Tatl having been flying near his head. She then began to fly lower, cautioning him to stop when they reached the opposite wall of the room. Link turned away from the blank wall to see hundreds of yellow eyes looking at him in the darkness, quickly turning back around and running along the face of the wall to find a doorway out, Tatl his light. Eventually they did, Link tossing the mask into his bag and using his now free hand to find some sort of door knob on the thick, stone door. There wasn't one.

"How am I supposed to open this?" Link exclaimed, frantically groping around the surface.

"Don't look at me!" Tatl exclaimed, looking at the swarm of dragonflies now there that Link had his back towards. "Just do something!" Pushing in on the door, he heard something budge, as if the door had been pushed back onto some sort of groove. He then slid the heavy door up, it taking all of his strength to do so, the flying creatures around him slowing down as they made a circle trapping him against the wall.

Light poured in from underneath the door as it opened a crack, and Link quickly dropped the sword and brought his hands down to the bottom lip that had now been revealed, lifting the entire door up and sliding it into the wall above him. He, still holding onto the door, kicked his sword into the next room and allowed Tatl to fly in, but just as he prepared to lower himself through, his left leg seized in the same manner his right arm had earlier. Link gasped in pain, trying his best to ignore it as he went under the door and into the next room, letting go of it and allowing the heavy stone slab to shut back into place. The tail that had stuck him, having been still stuck into his leg, was severed immediately by the door's heaviness, he and Tatl unable to hear its screech from the other side.

Link fell onto his back, his left leg just as useless as his arm had been, holding onto it as he blinked dazedly in the change of light. This next room was very large, the roof high above their heads, even with Link being on the raised balcony the doorway had let out onto, a ramp on one side leading down to the lower half of the room. The main feature, however, was what the balcony, ramp, and everything else in the room circled around: a massive, bulbous plant. It rose out from the deep purple water covering the bottom of the room, its many revolting purple flowers hanging off as it went straight into the ceiling, not stopping there, but continuing to grow bent over up against the roof. Purple ooze trickled from its gigantic body, the whole thing probably fifty feet in diameter, though by far much taller. A hole of some considerable size was on the ceiling; though far away from them, enough of the setting sun's light shined in to make the majority of the room visible, somewhat blocked by the edge of the plant.

Link, after a moment of taking in his surroundings to make sure there were no more hostile creatures, turned back to his leg. The large stinger was still there, the skin around it swollen and red, every muscle in the leg on fire. Link reached out for the stinger tentatively, gritting his teeth and groaning as soon as he touched it, the area very sensitive. He quickly retracted his hand, Tatl flying down to look at it herself.

"Here, do you want me to pull it out?"

"No!" Link exclaimed, batting her away as it looked like she was about to do so. "I can do it."

Tatl, at first taken back, smiled to herself when she saw him nervously eying it again. "Are you sure? Looking at it isn't going to accomplish anything."

"I'm... preparing myself," Link said after a moments though, hesitantly bringing his hand towards it once more.

"Looks more like you're afraid of it."

"I'm not afraid of it!" Link exclaimed, shooing her away as she attempted to approach him again.

"Fine; whatever," Tatl sighed, turning back around to examine the massive plant taking up the majority of the room. She looked up the length of its massive height, a look of disgust on her face. She flew closer to the end of the balcony, which had no railing, peering over the edge to see the roots of the plant. They disappeared in the dark, thick violet water it had grown from, the foul smell in the room growing stronger as she neared the plant. "Ugh, that stench! This place stinks just like that poison swamp."

Tatl thought about this for a minute, before turning back around to face Link. "I wonder if... you still haven't pulled it out?"

Link didn't say anything at first, refusing to look her in the eye as he stared intently at his wound. "I... I'm trying, all right? It's just, I... _Ow!_" Tatl, having lost her patience, had flown quickly into it before he could do anything about it, pulling it out and tossing it just beside him. Link's breath momentarily left him as he grabbed the now open wound, clenching his teeth as the sting itself burned and the muscles inside were still tense from whatever poison or shock had been delivered.

"_Why do you do that?_" Link whined.

"Because you wouldn't," Tatl said, feeling satisfied with herself as Link looked up at her angrily. "And remember, we're kind of short on time here. How long until you're walking on it again?"

"I don't know," Link said, looking at the leg in dismay. He reached into his bag, pulled out the bottle of water from inside, and, after taking a drink, tilted his leg to the side and flushed out his wound with the little remaining liquids.

"The Deku skin on your arm seemed to be a lot less irritated," Tatl commented.

"I don't think... this swamp is very human friendly in general," he replied, as he re-corked the now empty bottle and put it back into his bag.

"Maybe you should put your Deku scrub mask back on," Tatl suggested. "That way, you could at least walk."

Link, after a moment's thought, nodded, slipping the mask out of his bag and placing it over his face. He was, once again, the blonde headed Deku scrub with orange eyes, both of his legs now useful, but the right arm still stiff. He, however, found he could now move it slightly, but it hurt tremendously when he did. The affects had already begun to wear off in this form, but it still would pain him to walk with it dangling by his side. Link held his right arm in his left hand to prevent this from happening, bringing it across his chest and holding it against it, keeping it as steady as he could.

"So, what's the plan now?" Tatl asked. "I'd say we should try to find another way out of here before braving the massive pit of dragonflies, and in the meantime, look for this princess you're obsessing over."

"_I'm not obsessing!_" Link exclaimed defensively. "_There's a monster that kidnapped her, remember?_"

"Oh, right," Tatl said, suddenly looking around nervously, eying the giant purple plant suspiciously. "I guess we'll have to look out for... that... too." Link nodded gravely, turning to walk down the ramp that lead into the lower half of the room, examining the plant for the first time as he did so.

"Did we ever get some sort of description, in regards to this 'monster'?" Tatl asked curiously as they rounded and descended the room. "Because monster is a pretty broad term; there's no telling what it could be, especially when we're in a massive temple that was buried in the middle of the poisonous swamp water." Link shrugged, still holding onto his right arm as he continued onward. "I mean... do you think its a giant dragonfly? Like the queen of the hive? Or maybe its an evil monkey; that would explain the rivalry between the other ones."

Link looked at her with what would be his usual human eyebrow raised, shaking his head as he turned away, the ramp leveling out onto a platform just above the poisonous water. The platform was up against one of the walls of the room, upon which there was a door, heavy and made of stone, like the previous one. Link sighed, realizing he wouldn't have been able to open it with his weak Deku scrub arms even if he had had both of them.

"This looks like it could become quite annoying, quite quickly," Tatl commented, as Link removed his mask, collapsing to the floor as his injured leg returned. Upon opening the door and crawling inside, he reapplied the mask, letting the door fall behind him as the fairy flew in. The next room was much smaller than the previous one, still made entirely of stone and in absolute darkness. It was small and square, Tatl flying out in the middle to light its contents. There seemed to be papers scattered across the floor, Link eying them curiously as he further stepped into the room, keeping his ears open as for any buzzing sounds and his injured arm close. He stayed as near to the fairy as he could, blind otherwise, Tatl approaching something on the other side cautiously, passing a doorway on the left leading into a long, dark hallway.

"Look," Tatl said to Link, who'd been staring off into the dark hallway. He turned to see, at first only seeing the blank wall on the other side; however, she was lighting something lower, and he bent down, jumping back in surprise when he realized what it was. Lying up against the wall was the skeleton of a Deku scrub, garbed in what appeared to resemble some sort of armor, its helmet lying next to its side along with a thick club. It appeared to have been lying there for quite some time, dry and dusty. Link's eyes slowly turned to what was hanging off of his shoulder: an old quiver, with the fletched ends visibly protruding, still tightly packed with one another. A bow laid just beside it, its condition seeming to be somewhat decent. Tatl's light was suddenly gone, however, and Link looked up to see her continuing to look at the rest of the room.

"_Hey!_" Link whispered, the fairy turning back around. He motioned her to come back towards him, the fairy doing so.

"_What?_"

"_He had a bow_," Link explained, Tatl going back down to light the deceased Deku scrub's corpse.  
"_And you're going to take it? It probably doesn't even work._" She lit the way nonetheless, Link bending down and grabbing the leather strap around its shoulder. He slid it off, the skeleton falling over onto its side and remaining mostly intact. Link, grabbing the bow itself in his other hand, then sitting up against the wall, removing the mask in order to examine it with two arms. Tatl flew down to be much closer to him, allowing him to see easier

"Well?" Tatl asked softly.

Link ran his hands along the string, finding it still tight, only a a chip or two missing from the upper and lower limbs. The grip had been worn, but the bow, with its jet black string and golden wood, would work. "I think it'll work just fine," he said, smiling to himself as he pulled up the quiver and began to examine the arrows.

"But... you have the bubble things when you're a Deku scrub," Tatl reminded him. "Do you really have to carry that around?"

"I've always carried around a bow," Link explained, setting any of the arrows that had missing heads or been broken aside. "The only reason I don't have one is because I lost mine chasing the Skull Kid; it'd be nice to have one again. Besides, I don't feel all that safe when I'm a Deku scrub, and I'd finally be able to fight dragonflies from a distance without the mask."

"Yeah," Tatl said, uneasy. "Just don't forget how unfriendly this swamp is to humans."

"It's not all that friendly to Deku scrubs either," Link added, scooting himself into a more comfortable position against the wall. He also flexed the toes in his injured leg, it already feeling better. "Especially in dark, narrow hallways, like that one we're about to go through."

"Well, whatever form you decide to be in, we'd better get moving quickly. The moon... remember? And we don't even have a way out of here yet."

"We have the ocarina," Link reminded her, "if it comes to that."

"But then we'd leave the witches behind!" the fairy exclaimed. "We _need_ them if we ever want to take on the Skull Kid."

"For the millionth time, we don't have to worry about him for the time being," Link reassured her. "He's still stuck in the three day loop; he's probably floating just above the clock tower right now waiting for us, tossing the ocarina up and down in his..." Link stopped though, as if I thought had just occurred to him. Tatl understood why he'd stopped without having to ask, watching and lighting Link as he pulled the ocarina out of his belt's pouch. He looked at its dark blue surface curiously, turning it to see the black mark that had been burnt into it with a furrowed brow.

"Do you think... he notices a difference?" Tatl asked, reading Link's mind. "Or, are there now _two_ ocarinas?"

"No, there aren't two," Link said certainly, looking up at Tatl when she said this. "When I went up there the second time, he didn't have one, right before he..."

"Tried to kill you?" Tatl inquired, finishing his sentence when Link hadn't, and had turned back down to his instrument. When he still didn't say anything, the fairy pressed on. "Link... did he try to kill you the first time? The time when I... er... the old me, died?"

Link didn't answer at first, now staring forebodingly at the mark on his ocarina. He eventually shook his head slowly, Tatl gulping. "Do you think...?"

"No," Link said immediately, quickly putting the ocarina into his bag without much thought and attempting to get to his feet. He managed to do so, steadying himself against the wall and putting most of the weight on his other leg. "And it wouldn't matter anyways, because his memory would get wiped every time I play the song."

"Are you sure?" Tatl asked, as Link bent down to stow the bow, quiver, and mask away in his bag as well. "I mean, I'm pretty sure neither of us know the ins and outs of this whole time travel business. I've only done it twice... and I think you've done it but once more than me."

"He didn't realize I'd gone back in time," Link stated matter-of-factly, getting back to his feet and beginning to walk along the wall towards the hallway, Tatl lighting the way. His limp wasn't as bad as he thought it would be with the wall's help, still feeling safer than he would have as a one-armed Deku scrub. "It's not possible, Tatl; I don't think you understand how powerful this ocarina is."

"And I think you're underestimating how powerful the Skull Kid is," Tatl retorted. "We can't keep hiding in repetitive three day cycles forever."

"Yes we can," Link said, though he seemed to realize what he had said when Tatl gave him a shocked expression. "I mean... that's not what I meant. As long as we need to, we can; like I said, everyone forgets everything that happened... every time I play it."

"I still remember," Tatl pointed out.

"But that's only because you're with me when I play it. You definitely didn't remember anything after you'd died."

"I didn't die..."

"And that's exactly the point I'm trying to make!" Link exclaimed, rounding the corner and looking down into the dark depths of the small hallway. "It never happened; we get a clean slate, each time. Tabula rasa."

"Taboo-yeah what-ah?" Tatl asked, as Link stared nervously into the seemingly infinite depths of the next passage way.

He turned to face her, however, at this question, smiling slightly as he did so. "It means a blank slate; you know, a fresh start."

Tatl didn't seem phased, looking down at his smile with an expression that was completely serious. "... Whatever, Link. I'm just saying, we need a plan... eventually."

"Save the princess? Find one of the four?" Link inquired.

"Sure," the fairy asked. "And I guess the next step in that is to go down this creepy hallway. Are you ready to get attacked and almost eaten again?"

"Of course," Link replied, beginning his journey, still leaning against one of the walls as he did so, his head almost touching the ceiling and there hardly any room from side to side. Tatl followed closely next to him, the two venturing silently through, no end in sight and the room behind them already having disappeared. Their ears remained open and acute, listening for any sign of movement and speech ahead of them, the only sounds otherwise that of Link's shuffling boots and breathing. Occasionally, his foot would get caught in thick, small roots growing in between the cracks on the floor, almost tripping on more than one occasion.

And so the silence continuing, neither one daring to speak as they progressed. Link didn't stop until, upon placing his foot down one further step, he heard a noise from underneath him.

He quickly looked down, but the floor was already falling from underneath, the noise having been that of the floor sliding inward like a trapdoor in response to his weight. Link gasped, attempting to bring his foot back, but the other leg was still not yet strong enough to hold all of him. He then stumbled forward, falling onto his face and rolling with the floor that had begun to swing down on heavy stone hinges. Link attempted to grab a hold of anything, but his hands only met either smooth stone or roots too rough and small to cling to, cutting his palms. He did stop rolling for one brief moment, his bag having caught on one of the roots and stopped his fall, Link in that moment noticing Tatl as she flew in panic towards him. That moment ended quickly, however, when his arm rolled out of the strap that had been around his shoulder, the bag remaining caught on the root as he rolled into the dark hole the floor had parted open to reveal.

Soon he was no longer on the floor at all, and was only falling, down whatever hole, whatever trap, had been hidden underneath. Tatl flew quickly to be by his side, narrowly making it through the opening in the floor as it rose up to be back in place, sealing itself shut once more as if nothing had ever happened. Link's fall was short, landing quite quickly on a stone surface covered in plant life. The fall, however, was not pleasant, Link moaning as he quickly began to sit up. Tatl flew down just beside him, looking at him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah... I'm fine," Link said, getting to his feet, stumbling slightly, and then falling against the wall of this new room to stabilize himself. He looked around quickly, still breathing heavily in response to the shock. It was just as dark in this new room, his eyes only finding Tatl as she flew around. She, however, was unable to fly very far, zipping across the room only to run quickly into another wall. The room, they discovered quite quickly, was a very small box; there were no doorways or openings of any kind along the walls, floor or ceiling. It was just a dark, stone rectangle, the ceiling that had once been the floor completely sealing off the hallway they knew was above.

Link's expression grew even more worried when Tatl ventured near the floor, to find two or three more Deku scrub skeletons, each dressed in the armor and adorned with some, if not all, of the weapons the other one had had.

"... It was a trap," Link said, staring off away from Tatl, who was still flying frantically back and forth.

"You think?" She began to then fly against the ceiling, pushing against it with all her weight, but nothing would happen, it remaining motionless. "It won't... _budge!_"

"We're trapped...," Link stated, now looking at the floor, still appearing frightful.

"We've already established that, genius!" Tatl eventually gave up, staring at the floor blocking their way, until she heard Link struggling behind her. The fairy turned around to see Link taking his shield off, before flinging it at the ceiling. Tatl flew out of the way as it spiraled into it, but nothing happened, it falling back down to the stone floor. Link hardly seemed to notice, then struggling to hastily get his scabbard off, which he tossed at the roof, sword still sheathed.

"Link!" Tatl exclaimed at her raging companion, the sword falling out of the scabbard as both returned to the Earth. Link still did not acknowledge her, throwing his hat this time, which didn't even reach the ceiling before fluttering back down. He then stumbled back into a sitting position up against the wall, holding his blonde hair in his hands as he squeezed his eyes shut in anguish. "Link!" Tatl repeated, flying slowly closer towards him, before stopping.

"My bag's up there too," Link finally said after several moments, bringing down his hands and looking up at Tatl sadly with his blue eyes.

"... I'm sorry, Link," Tatl said. "I don't think there's anyway we can get to it, though."

"My ocarina is in it."

The fairy didn't seem to comprehend at first, shaking her head and flying to be closer to Link as she laughed lightly. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "You always keep it on your belt, remember?"

"I accidentally put it into the bag," Link said, staring grimly across their small, dark prison. "We're trapped in here, Tatl; you were right. The ocarina can't save us. The moon's going to come crashing down at the end of the night, and we're not going to be able to do anything about it."


	18. In the Depths of Woodfall

Note: I changed the title of Chapter 17 so I could use the word "Woodfall" in this one without being repetitive, because originally this chapter was going to be titled "Odolwa", but it didn't end up going that far. Doing this, I accidentally erased my author's note and replies to all the reviews I can't send private messages to in the previous chapter, so I apologize for that; I do, however, plan to go back and remove all author's notes that are no longer relevant anyways once I do my rereading of the story. I plan to do this before I start the journey north to the mountains, so there may be a brief hiatus at that point in time while I'm revising.

* * *

_Chapter 18: In the Depths of Woodfall_

Link sat up against the wall, staring off into the darkness with a blank expression overtaking his blue eyes, his mouth slightly agape, blonde hair still uncovered and untidy. He looked blankly at nothing, the two Deku scrub skeletons, scabbard, sword, shield, and hat all lying where they'd last been touched, scattered aimlessly in the small, rectangular room. The only source of light was the glowing orb with wings, still flying around the room slowly, looking intently at the roof, examining every minute detail of the surface.

This had been going on for quite a while, until a tremor interrupted their thoughts. The whole room shook slightly, small rocks dotting the ground bouncing up and down as it did so, Link looking up as soon as it began, and Tatl over. Though, as far as they could tell, it appeared to be only the small room shaking, they knew the entire temple was, as well as the swamp and the rest of Termina. The sun had most definitely set by that point, and they both knew that it was the final night, only hours away from the sunrise that would mark the fall of the moon. By now, Clock Town would be deserted, most of its citizens hiding in hidden rooms similar to the one they were in, though Link and Tatl knew better than to think that any cellar could protect one from the monstrous mass of rock in the sky.

The earthquake didn't last very long, but Link and Tatl looked across the room at one and other after it had happened grimly, Link swallowing nervously. The two stared at one another worriedly for a few moments, each relaying the fear they knew each other now shared. The fairy, however, looked away, turning back to the ceiling. "There has to be something," she said reassuringly.

"Have you seen the dead Deku scrubs?" Link inquired, turning away from the fairy and looking at the skeletons her light barely reached. "I don't think there's a way out."

"But there's always _something_," Tatl repeated. "Anything; something we over looked... something we haven't thought of yet, that'll get us out."

"Well there isn't."

"Link, I'm supposed to be the pessimistic one," Tatl said, flying down from the ceiling and towards him. "Please don't make me go against my own nature and actually try to cheer _you_ up."

"I'm not being pessimistic," Link stated, still not looking over at her. "Just realistic."

"You're not usually the realistic one either," Tatl reminded him. "You're the one that has to get us out of this!"

"I... can't," Link said simply, shaking his head. "That's the thing, Tatl. I'm sitting here thinking of all the times I didn't listen to you, of all the times I got us into some mess because I wouldn't listen to you, making perfect sense, as usual, just beside me. But I wouldn't listen, and now I'm about to pay for that, aren't I?"

Tatl didn't say anything at first, looking away before turning back with something to say. "Don't be so hard on yourself; you _did_ only have the best intentions, even if you didn't mean to get yourself killed."

"But it's not even me I'm worried about right now," Link said. "I got myself trapped inside of this box; it's the fact that I got _you_ stuck here too that's bothering me. I didn't have to get us both killed."

"You didn't get us both killed," Tatl replied immediately, Link finally turning to look at her as soon as she'd said this. "I flew down in here after you; it was my choice to be down here with you."

"You didn't realize we were both going to be stuck...," Link began, but the fairy interrupted.

"That's not the point. The point is, I could of ditched you ages ago if I'd wanted too. I got out of that bottle a long time ago, and I'm still here. Don't blame yourself for getting me stuck here, because that's my fault."

Link smiled at this, once again turning to face his fairy companion that was floating just above him. "Well, thanks Tatl. That was unusually sweet, for _you_."

"Yeah, well," the fairy began, flying down to be at his level, "Don't get used to it."

There then ensued a moment of silence, the ghost of Link's smile still on his face as he resumed staring off, Tatl eying him curiously as she thought of something to so say. "So...," she began, looking off before turning back to face him, "anything you want to talk about before we're moon juice?" Link looked up at her skeptically, one eyebrow raised. "Because I don't know about you, but I really don't want to spend my last several hours in awkward silence... or having some kind of meaningless small talk. I'm not sure which is worse, really." Link's smile completely returned at this statement, he shaking his head as he looked off and thought of something to say. "Come on, anything; you have to give me something to go off of here. A lingering regret, a deep, dark secret you've never told anyone, some revolutionary idea you've never dared to share with the world..."

"Hm," Link began, shaking his head at the fairy's continual sarcasm. "The only thing that really keeps coming back to me is Hyrule, and mostly just because of..."

When he didn't finish, Tatl did, "Navi?"

Link, at first, didn't seem to know how to respond to this, eventually shaking his head. "No, not so much her; it's just the way things used to be. Especially with... Zelda." He then went back to staring off for a moment, as if deep in thought about whatever memory this had brought back.

"You really loved her, didn't you?" Tatl asked.

"I _do_ love her. It's just, I wonder what she'll think... me never coming back."

"Surely she knows you better than that!" Tatl exclaimed. "If she only knew you _half_ as well as I do, she'd still have to realize you'd never do anything like that."

Link smiled once again, Tatl returning it. "What about you, Tatl?" he asked.

"Me?" she said, as if surprised he'd even asked.

"Yes, you," Link repeated.

"Uh...," Tatl stammered, obviously unsure what to talk about. "Really, the only memories that ever come to mind are me and Tael fending for ourselves, and then the Skull Kid."

"There has to be more than that," Link said. "I mean, what about your parents? How'd you and Tael end up in Termina in the first place?"

"... I can't remember." Link looked at her doubtfully, obviously not satisfied with her answer. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't come from some really memorable, magical, far off kingdom renowned across the globe! It's always just been me and Tael for as long as I can remember, and that's really about it."

"I think you're cheating," Link replied.

Tatl shook her head, sighing. "I just wish I could have met this Zelda, or at least gotten _you_ back to her."

"Well, you know what, Tatl?"

Tatl, not sure where he was going with this, looked at him questioningly when she responded. "What, Link?"

"I think... I _know_... that I'm glad I'm here with _you_ right now."

Tatl, at first, wasn't sure how to take this. "But what about Hyrule, and Zelda... wouldn't you rather be there?"

"No," Link answered simply, "because I wasn't done in Termina yet. I'd resigned to not leave this place until I'd saved it, even if that meant dying... which obviously it did, and there's no one I'd rather have here with me in this final hour than you."

Tatl could only stare at him for a moment after he said this, Link retaining his smile and eye contact as she did so. The fairy then turned away, smiling to herself as she flew up to the part of the wall just beside the portion Link was lying up against. She began to run her finger through its dusty surface, Link turning his head to the side to see what she was doing. It didn't take long for him to realize she was drawing something, it also not taking her long to finish the drawing. It was a symbol, what appeared to be a crescent moon with two diagonal lines back-slashing through it.

"What's that?" Link asked.

"It's a symbol the Skull Kid taught me," Tatl explained. "You know, before he went all evil and stuff. It's from some old written language he knew, apparently some sort of term of endearment. It means friendship; love. Where ever me, him, and Tael went, we'd leave these for each other, or so we could come across them later and remember what fun we'd had there..." The fairy then turned back to Link, returning his smile. "Not that waiting in a hole to die is _fun_, but..."

"I know what you mean," Link said. "I'm glad we could leave a mark; you know, before..."

"Yeah," she said, backing away from what she'd written on the wall, both herself and Link knowing the mark would not be there for very long. The ground then shook again, Link and Tatl's expressions turning grim once more at the reminder.

"He's really not a bad guy," Tatl said after a moment's silence. "It's that mask; all the mask's fault."

It was at this point that they heard something, something other than an earthquake or anything that was in this small, enclosed room. It came from above, and it first sounded like a sort of hissing noise, as if some gas had been released, sweeping quickly across a surface from a high pressure position. Before either of them could comment, it was quickly followed by a wailing, high-pitched scream. Link and Tatl's faces were shocked at the intensity of the yelling, looking at each other frightfully as the hissing noises also increased; everything got louder and louder, as if whatever was above them was coming closer to the floor they were hidden underneath. And then, it passed over the sealed doorway, the noises fading into the distance, Link and Tatl once again in silence.

"What... was that?" Tatl asked, following a few moments of the two of them calming their selves. Link didn't answer. "Could it have been the monster or the princess?"

"Whatever it was," Link commented, "it was definitely in pain."

And then, the ceiling above them suddenly shifted inward slightly, Link and Tatl's heads instantly shooting up to see it quickly slide back into place. "... Hey!" Link exclaimed quickly, getting to his feet as soon as this had happened, the pain in his leg now completely gone, only a large red mark remaining.

"_Sh!_" Tatl whispered sharply, rising to be level with him. "Whatever's out there might eat us!"

"And?" Link inquired, taking a few steps over to his sword and picking it up. "I'll be ready; we just need someone to open the floor for us." Tatl didn't say anything, but merely turned back to the ceiling worriedly.

"Hey!" Link yelled once again. "Open the floor! We're stuck down here!"

A few moments passed with nothing happening, the two of them staring up at the floor... waiting, until it budged once again. As before, it only opened a crack, Link and Tatl both jumping at the noise, the fairy going to be behind Link as he held his sword at the ready. This time, however, the ceiling did not immediately shut, slowly being pushed further downward. This was done awkwardly, though, whatever was doing this obviously having a hard time trying to open it without falling in. Link, realizing the floor would not open the entire way, walked over alertly to where the opening was, it wobbling back and forth unsteadily due to its great weight.

He heard some sort of struggling noise as he came closer to be against the wall the floor was beginning to slope down towards, passing under the lip of the floor and looking up its sloping surface to see what was there. At first, all he saw were two pairs of eyes, one just off of the sloping floor on the sturdy ground and the other on top of it, both near each other, the latter being the weight that was opening the floor. He pointed his sword at them threateningly until the fairy flew just out of the hole, lighting the scene.

Presented before him were two of the monkeys, the small white creatures looking fearfully at his sword. The monkey safely in the rest of the hallway was holding the ankles of the other, who was attempting to open the trap with his little weight, the other preventing him from falling. They had frozen momentarily upon him appearing in the dark hole with a weapon, but Link's furrowed burrow quickly turned into delight, he lowering his sword and smiling broadly.

"The monkeys!" Tatl exclaimed excitedly, the small white creatures beginning to smile their selves at Link and Tatl's apparent happiness. "Link, we're saved; they came to save us!" He, his mouth still curved brightly, wasn't able to verbally express his joy, his mouth open but at a loss for words.

"We came cause thought no help brother!" exclaimed the monkey holding the ankles of the other, himself also giddy. "No wanted wait so came selves and see bag so know floor cover!"

"I can't understand a word you just said, but I don't care!" Tatl shouted happily, flying up into a miniature spiral gleefully. "You know why? Because we're not sitting ducks anymore!"

Link's joy, however, slowly ebbed away when his face turned to the other monkey's, the one who was holding the floor down. His face was contorted into a mixture of concentration and physical exhaustion, the weight of the floor suddenly rivaling his own strength. "Hurry...," the monkey exhaled weakly, its first words. The fairy barely heard, looking down to see Link disappear into the depths of the cage once more, the sliver of an opening slowly going in the wrong direction for freedom. Tatl understood he'd gone to pick up the rest of his belongings and turned seriously to the monkey trying to hold the giant stone slab down.

"Alright little guy," Tatl said, flying down to be just beside the struggling little creature. "Come on." Tatl, however, noticed something else while hovering down; the monkey's arms were far too short to actually reach into the opening to pull Link up, and the opening itself was too high up for Link to reach it on his own. She, her brow furrowing in a moment of thought, turned to see his brown bag next to the other monkey, safely pulled away from the slanted door.

Link quickly grabbed his scabbard and threw it over his back, tightening its straps hastily around his waist and chest as he watched the little bit of light escaping into the room quiver. He then slipped his sword inside and began to search in the darkness for his shield and hat; the shield wasn't all that difficult to find, given its size and color. It was quickly on his back and over his sword once again, but the hat wasn't as effortlessly reacquired.

Tatl retrieved the bag, before returning just beside the monkey. "Okay," she began, nervously eying the precarious nature with which Link's escape was being maintained. "I need you to hold onto this bag too, so the kid down there can climb out, alright?"

"Uh...," the monkey stammered, his eyes too nervous to even turn away from the opening it was barely able to keep.

"Of course you will!" Tatl exclaimed enthusiastically, pushing the bag flat against the stone surface and sliding it into the monkey's hand. It wouldn't budge, however, pressed down too hard against the floor; it wasn't until the fairy forced it underneath that it was able to be held in place, herself then pulling the shoulder strap so it was dangling into the opening. "Hurry up, Link!" she then said, flying down into the stone trap to see her companion looking around the room frantically.

"I can't find my hat!" Link exclaimed, his blue eyes worriedly sweeping the room.

"Your hat?" Tatl replied furiously. "Oh, come on! I'll get your stupid hat; you need to climb out of here before the floor seals itself again." Link looked up at her unsure at first, before turning to see the straps to his bag providing a way out. He nodded at her and then took several steps before grabbing onto the shoulder strap and hoisting himself up, the fairy's light making it easier for her to search.

The monkey being held by his ankles gasped when the bag almost instantly slid out from under his hands with Link's added weight, but he managed to press down just hard enough to stop this from happening, one hand, he realized quickly, not being enough to keep it that way. The monkey placed his other hand over the bag and pressed down, the one holding his ankles tightening his grip. Link appeared out of the hole and onto the surface of the floor only moments later, pulling himself onto the downward sloped lip and pushing it further down. The monkey suddenly found himself sliding down towards the secret room, but Link only took one step on the trapdoor, using this to leap safely into the rest of the hallway, bringing the monkey who'd been about to fall with him. Link rolled safely away from the stone floor's trap, monkey in one arm and bag in the other; Tatl flew out just as the massive slab slid back into place, green hat in her hands.

Link laid there on his back for a moment, eyes closed as he breathed in and out, the monkey taking no such time to recuperate and quickly running to be rejoined with his brother. The monkeys danced around one another cheerfully, Tatl shaking her head as she flew to be just above her fallen companion. The fairy let go of the hat, allowing it to flutter down over Link's face. "I believe that's yours."

Link smiled, taking a moment to respond as he opened his eyes and sat up. "Thanks Tatl," he replied, slipping it back over his blonde head.

"You're lucky I didn't leave it down there," Tatl said, turning away as she rolled her eyes. "It's rather unfashionable, and seems to get in the way more than it actually helps."

"But it's weird without it," Link said. "All the Kokiri wore one."

"And you couldn't start a new trend? Just think, you could've saved hundreds of little fairy children from looking absolutely ridiculous."

Link didn't have a response, the smile still on his face as he looked up at her. The two turned away from one another, however, when they realized the monkeys had stopped cheering and were now standing just in front of them gravely.

"We help both brothers!" shouted one of the monkeys, pointing down the hallway. "Monster took one!" Link and Tatl slowly turned in the direction the fingers was pointing, only greeted with more dark hallway once they'd done so; suddenly, they both realized what the hissing and screaming had been. The former had been the monster; the latter had been the monkey it had taken.

"Come on!" the monkeys shouted in unison, running ahead of them and soon enveloped in the darkness. Link and Tatl turned to face one another before continuing.

"Are you sure we should go?" Tatl asked, her light only forming a small radius of vision around them.

"Yes," Link said, knowing she was referring to the possibility of playing the song of time.

Tatl, before responding, turned to look down the passage the monkeys had run down. "Well, at least we'll have them ahead of us to find the rest of the booby traps."

The fairy then flew off, Link throwing his bag around his shoulder before going to catch up, making sure to move his ocarina to his belt. Thus, their journey through the dark hallway continued. It progressed much more smoothly than the first half, Link now with full use of his leg and aware of the possibility of traps. It concluded in silence, for the most part, the only sounds being his boots on the cold, stone floor, the fairy shimmering beside him, and the monkeys soft feet thudding underneath them.

One glaring exception was the earthquake that caused Link to stumble, having been running; he managed to stop himself from falling by grabbing onto the wall, and he instinctively turned to look worriedly at Tatl after this, the fairy stopping as he did. They continued on without commenting, it unnecessary, given how little time was remaining.

Soon, though Link and Tatl felt it could have come much sooner, a light could be seen at the end, the dark hallway having possessed multiple turns and occasionally sloping downward to take them further underneath the swamp. It was the light of another room, but they didn't slow their pace, coming out of the darkness of the hallway and entering a room much larger and better lit.

The walls of the room, contrasting with the dark stone of the previous hallway, seemed to consist of thickly packed dirt, the ceiling far above their heads similarly fashioned. Link began to wonder just how far underground they'd gone, his boots stepping onto a swampy floor. With several dips and holes across its grassy surface, water had collected in a myriad of places, the wet plant life making the air of the sealed room heavy; he also noted the three Deku flowers growing from the wet ground, scattered at random points. Despite these obstacles, torches lined the walls, the flames somehow managing to remain constant in the damp environment, making everything in the room visible to even Link's human eye. He was able to tell, from the exit of the hallway, that there was a stone door across the room, being the only way out other than the hallway behind him.

However, none of these were reasons for Link, Tatl, and the two monkeys to stop their high speed venture through the temple. The cause for this was the other living creature in the room: a rather large, orange, frog-like creature, almost the size of Link. It had been merely crouching in the middle of the room, and cocked its head to the side at the sight of these visitors. It's yellow eyes blinked curiously, its expression blank, the surface of its orange, black-striped skin glistening, due to its smooth, slick, wetness. As it began to hop towards the four slowly, a pause creating an interval between each hop, Link looked down at its forearms to identify the ridiculously long, sharp nails coming from its webbed fingers. The creature continued its approach towards them despite their failure to react, its mouth only opening slightly every now and then to let out a small hiccuping noise of some sort.

"What... is that?" Link asked, watching it approach them interestedly. It didn't seem to be threatening them in any way, failing to cease its cumbersome journey over to them.

"That's a gekko," the fairy responded, just beside him, also looking at the creature. "It's pretty weak, too. I've never really seen anyone get attacked by one, but given how rarely me and you ever come across something that doesn't want to kill us..."

Link noticed movement on either side of him, and turned his head to see the two monkeys backing away to be behind them in the doorway to the dark hallway, obviously fearful of the gekko. Link, taking this as a sign, drew his sword slowly from his scabbard and held it by his side, making sure to not make any sudden movements, as the orange frog had closed now almost all of the space between them.

"If the monster passed through here," Link began, the fairy not understanding, "why did it leave this frog alive?"

The gekko, by this point, had landed just in front of him, Link's blue eyes looking into the yellow of the frog. The latter made some sort of noise, the blonde-haired boy standing tall with a puzzled expression on his face as the frog raised its sharp-clawed hand slightly.

Nothing happened after this, the gekko waiting, Tatl remaining just beside him, and the monkeys behind. Link, unsure what to do next, decided to try and speak to it. "Uh... hi," he stammered, unsure. Immediately after he had done this, the gekko shot out its claws and ripped three large claw marks into his arm. Link immediately drew his right arm back, looking down at the bright red glistening back at him. "_Ah!_" he breathed, looking back up at the gekko attempting to bring its claw down again.

This time, however, Link made sure to bring his sword up first, the frog realizing this just in time to avoid a fatal blow. Its side-step and turning around left it with a slash across its orange back, the creature rolling through the shallow water to make sure it was completely out of the way of another strike. It squealed angrily in pain as it got back to its feet, turning its head to examine the wound on its back.

"Are you okay?" Tatl asked, floating down to look at the three red marks cut into his arm.

"Yeah, it just stings a little," Link responded, holding the injured arm. He looked up when he heard the monstrous frog creature give a threatening sound directed towards him, a roar of some sort. His eyes saw the gekko's teeth revealed for the first time; they were long and pointed, shining brightly, barred in his direction angrily, its yellow eyes suddenly furious. Link, now half-way across the room from the creature, only watched as it flung its head back into the air and squealed. The high-pitched wail reverberated against the walls and rung in his ears, the gekko bringing its head down and smiling broadly after it had finished.

"What did it do?" Link asked, suddenly worried.

His question was answered, however, when he noticed movement in one of the shallow ponds across the room. A sleek, scaled body began to rise from its surface, its dark skin dripping with water and uncurling as it broke the surface and reached air. Its slitted eyes popped open after a moment, quickly identifying Link and Tatl as it began to get to its feet gracefully. It was a massive lizard, the size of a man, standing on its feet with a thick tail swinging back and forth behind it. Its clawed hand came out from behind it with an ax, its large, thick blade shining, its surface wet. The lizard man smiled, much taller than Link and just as thin.

Link's eyes, wide at the appearance of this creature, turned to another portion of the ground when it suddenly exploded. Out of the hole, appeared a snapper, the turtle's head sticking out of its surface as its eyes swept the room. The gekko gleefully ran over to it, hoping onto its smooth shelled back. The snappers arms and neck then disappeared into its shell as it began to rotate, the spikes revealing their selves.

"Link...," Tatl began nervously as the snapper spun, the gekko laughing maniacally as it straddled it, the lizard man beginning to walk towards them as it smiled wickedly, ax in hand.

"Don't worry, Tatl," Link said, the fairy looking down to her companion for the first time since the appearance of the monsters, to see that he was smiling. He pulled his shield out into his right hand, still burnt from the poisonous water of the swamp; he didn't seem to notice, however, his smile remaining as his eyes darted back and forth between the three hostile creatures, developing a strategy. "I've got this."

The snapper was the first to attack, spiraling towards Link in an instant. The gekko spun around madly on top, still cackling as it waved its arms and legs around excitedly. Link rolled out of its path just before it reached him, making sure to roll to the side opposite the one the lizard man was on, getting to his feet with his sword and shield already once more at the ready. The lizard man had already been charging towards him, long mouth open and lined with sharp teeth as its tongue hissed out at him, ax raised.

"Watch out for that dinolfo, Link!" Tatl exclaimed, having instinctively risen into the air to avoid the hurtling snapper, though it wouldn't have reached her regardless. It crashed into the wall behind her, having been unable to stop itself. The spikes rebounded off of the dirt wall, and the turtle spun off into some random direction away from everyone.

Link, realizing Tatl's exclamation had been referring to the lizard man, had already been well aware that it was attacking him, bringing his shield up as the ax came down on top of it. It didn't take him long to realize that that hadn't been what she was trying to warn him about, as the dinolfo began to breathe in deeply, as if preparing for some great exhale. Link's eyes went wide at this, himself having just recovered from blocking the ax blow.

"It breathes fire!" She said this only a moment after fire came bellowing forth from its throat, Link raising his shield just in time for the flames to hit its surface. The force of it caused him to stumble back a few steps, but he was able to plant his feet into the wet grass and hold himself steady, the flames rippling off of his shield's metal surface. Link, the heat intense on his face as the shield was beginning to be forced back, turned his head to see the snapper flying towards him once more. He, only having seconds to react,was unable to escape to his left, the dirt wall of that side of the room almost just beside him, the turtle coming in the opposite direction as the dinolfo continued to exhale fire powerfully.

Link, realizing this, took two forceful steps in the direction of the fire, battling the stream's strength. He then rolled diagonally away from the fire and snapper, the snapper gliding right after the spot Link had just been and slamming into the wall, the fire from the dinolfo almost blazing the gekko on top as the turtle passed underneath the stream. The frog, however, managed to duck just in time, the lizard man stopping the stream of fire to turn towards the boy getting to his feet.

The dinolfo leapt into the air, ax raised, and hardly gave Link any time to prepare himself. He was only slightly surprised at the height the lizard was able to achieve, blocking the ax blow with his shield nonetheless and bringing his sword around from out behind it. The dinolfo swiftly side-stepped this and brought the ax around again, only for it to once more reach the shield. Link turned to his side when once again water began to splash into the air, a result of the spinning snapper once again hurtling towards him. He, unable to roll this time given the current holes in the terrain surrounding him, forced the dinolfo into stumbling back a few steps, its ax having been pressed down on the shield. Link then spun in the direction of the snapper and crouched behind the shield, the only reaction time had given him; the spikes slammed into it, his shoulder ripped back violently as he was tossed to the side and landed in another pool of water.

He, at first fearful that his shoulder had been dislocated, found that this was not the case, his right arm holding the shield just now in severe pain. Link, who'd been in the process of getting to his feet, found it difficult to do so as his legs met resistance as they waded through the water. The dinolfo was already upon before he'd been able to accomplish this, forced back onto his back as the ax slammed into his shield. The ax, however, was not immediately withdrawn back to the lizard's side as it usually was; Link, completely submerged in water except for his head and bent knees, noticed that the ax had caught on the lip of his shield.

The lizard reacted by tearing the ax harshly in the direction of his arm, causing the shield to fly out of Link's hand and land several feet away. Link, now armed only with his sword, looked at the dinolfo frightfully as he sluggishly returned to his feet, his clothes now weighted down with the water they'd collected, it dripping down back into the pool all over his tunic. Fire had begun to bellow from the monster's throat, however, and Link was forced to roll out of the way of it before he had completely gotten up.

Now out of breath, Link returned to his feet as quickly as he could, the dinolfo only having to spin around and cease his fire to face him once more, the flames that had missed their target disappearing into the water it had hit instead. The green cloth wet against his skin, Link raised his sword to block the next ax attack, swinging the ax off of it and bringing his sword to slice the side of the lizard before he had returned it to its side.

The lizard squealed in pain, swishing its tail around and hitting Link's ankles, bringing him down on top of the Deku flower he'd been standing on. His face landing in the center of the flower, he looked down into the hole there, his face dripping water as he got onto his hands and his mind whirled. He, still hovering over the flower with his sword pressed down against the ground in his left hand, heard the snapper preparing to spin towards him. He could hear it swishing through the water, the gekko still laughing madly, and the dinolfo hissing at him as it drew its ax back for another attack. All of this was happening in the same moment as he stared down into the depths of the Deku flower, little beads of water dropping down from his nose and hair onto its petals. His eyes darted up to see Tatl, looking worriedly at the events taking place from her perch high above, obviously beginning to question the confidence with which Link had entered the battle, given his apparent condition in it. There was no earthly way he would be able to turn around in time to stop the ax blow from behind him, and it wouldn't have made a difference given his lack of a shield. Even if he would have been able to do this, the spiked turtle would have been upon him in the next instantly anyways, likely decapitating him as the spikes blazed by.

Instead, his hand continued its journey into his bag, which had begun just a few seconds ago when he'd first looked at Tatl. As the ax came down towards his back and the snapper came spiraling from the opposite direction, the Deku scrub mask was placed over his face, and the change, as it had been each consecutive time since he first applied it, was instantaneous. His hat, tunic, sword, shield, and bag were gone, once again a young Deku scrub with a snout, the right arm that had been paralyzed once again ready for use. However, no one had been able to take this in, because before Link had finished changing, he was already beginning to dive deep into the flower he'd been on top of.

The ax came down on top of dirt, the dinolfo's eyes wide with shock when it appeared as if the boy had vanished. Its eyes, in a momentary blind panic, swiftly found a Deku scrub snout sticking out of the flower he'd been on top of; this, however, was not a good enough explanation for the lizard man, for it swore to itself that its target had been a human, and not a Deku scrub.

Before any of this could be thought out in any organized fashion whatsoever, the dinolfo's attention was drawn to the snapper spiraling towards him, now that the target in between them had vanished, spikes glistening in the water spraying around itself. The lizard had noticed this far too late, however, and his eyes only met those of the shocked gekko's on top.

The snapper flew directly into the dinolfo's ankles, the lizard screaming as the turtle began to graze up the surface of his body, pushing him down against the ground and running over him, leaving behind a bloody pulp of lizard guts, with an ax just beside the now lifeless mass. The snapper continued to slam into the near dirt wall, bouncing off and back into the direction of the dinolfo corpse and Deku flower. The gekko remained slightly dazed on top of the shell, itself now covered in blood, as well as the surrounding turtle shell and spikes; it still hadn't quite taken in the fact that it had killed its fighting partner, nor what exactly had happened to their victim who'd vanished.

The orange frog's thought process was rudely interrupted as soon as the snapper had passed over the Deku flower. Link shot out from within its depths at the precise moment most advantageous to himself; he came out just as the turtle had been above him, the bullet-like speed with which he'd come out sending the turtle across the room in a wide arc, the soft underbelly retaining fatal wounds leaving it in the same condition as the dinolfo. The gekko flew the highest, zipping towards the nearest wall as the snapper landed off to the side, dead. The orange frog, able to recover from the shock just in time to land on the wall, grabbed its surface with its webbed and clawed feet and remained there. The blonde-headed Deku scrub, meanwhile, floated gently down on top of the Deku flower that had saved him, letting the smaller flowers in either hand float down to the ground, a dead snapper and dinolfo on either side of him.

Tatl watched all of this in amazement, the demise of the two monsters having taken place within only a couple of seconds. She expected the victorious Deku scrub to face her after this had happened, but he didn't, the young scrub instead facing the gekko now scurrying across the surface of the wall, a sense of urgency and fear rather than anger now present. Tatl watched Link begin to summon the green bubbles to fire at the creature running along the walls madly, but knew even before he'd finished charging it that it wouldn't suffice. The green bubble traveled far too slowly across the great distance between himself and the monster, hitting the wall long after the orange gekko had changed location.

Link, realizing this tactic was useless, removed the Deku mask and slipped it back into his bag as his human form returned, sliding the sword that had appeared in his left hand back into his scabbard. Once again, he found himself weighed down by water, his tunic still drenched entirely; after examining his once again wet body, he looked up once more at the gekko, his green hat sliding off of his wet hair and hitting the ground behind him. Tatl, deciding the immediate danger of the battle had passed, flew down to be beside her companion, who'd begun to pull out the bow stowed away in his bag.

"Are you sure we have to kill it?" Tatl asked, as she watched the gekko continue to run up and down aimlessly, obviously scared out of its mind. "It does look rather helpless."

"Well, if you think back to a few seconds ago," Link began, taking out an arrow and examining the bow to make sure the water hadn't rendered it useless, "it _did_ just finish its bloodthirsty attack on my life. And yes, I do have to kill it; I don't want it calling anything else to come and attack us while we're up ahead with our backs turned."

"If you say so," Tatl replied, as Link notched the arrow back and released it. The gekko continued to madly run until the arrow landed through its back, the orange frog squealing once before being no longer able to hold onto the dirt surface. Its arms giving out, the gekko fell lightly into a puddle of water, it now mixed with red given the corpse it now held. Link lowered his bow and looked up at the fairy, whose eyes were wide. "Wow, that was actually pretty impressive! One shot!"

"I used my other bow all the time, before the Skull Kid took it," Link explained, as he put the weapons back into his bag and picked up his hat.

"So you're a swordsman, an archer, and a musician. Are there any other hidden talents I should know about before we continue our journey?" Link smiled at this, looking down at his green hat as he wrung the water out of it into the grass below him.

"I'm fairly talented with explosives too," he added matter-of-factly, wondering over to his shield, as he put his hat into his bag while his hair dried.

"Oh, and you're also a pyromaniac; fantastic!" the fairy stated sarcastically. "I can't wait until we run across a bunch of explosives; that ought to make things more interesting."

Link laughed lightly at this as the monkeys ran in from the hallway jubilantly, hopping up and down across the room towards them cheerfully as they splashed water around them. Link, his shield now once again over his back, turned to face them with his fairy, the monkeys stopping just in front of them.

"You kill baddies! You magical god!"

"Your power amazing!"

Link looked back and forth between the ecstatic monkeys praising him, unsure how to react.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tatl smirked. "Link's _so_ great and amazing; he killed a lizard, a frog, and a turtle. Now just don't let it all go to his head."

"Come on Tatl," Link said, turning to face her. "They're monkeys."

"I'm just saying," she said, shrugging her shoulders as she floated to look at the door promising to take them further into the temple.

The ground, at that moment, shook, another quake as a result of the approaching moon. The short-lived glee ended at that moment, and the monkeys eagerly turned away from looking at one another fearfully.

"Now must slay monster!"

"Save brother and princess, so we save other brother in Deku Palace!"

"Use magic god power!"

Link nodded, dismissing their primitive perceptions of his abilities. "We'll have to hurry though," he said, turning to motion the small white creatures onward. "We don't have much time."

The four then approached the stone door, Link slipping his fingers underneath and beginning to lift it up.

* * *

Replies to "Unrepliable" Reviews:

Anonymous: I've thought about the repetitiveness in handicapping Link too lately; I'm not sure if it's due to my inability to make dramatic fight scenes otherwise, but I've been telling myself its just because of whatever various circumstance comes up to make it necessary. Like, as you pointed out, the sting was only to introduce the dragonfly enemy (and they only have stingers because they do in the game), and when he's captured by the Skulltula, to further stress his weakness as a Deku scrub and so Tatl could find him, and when the Skull Kid strikes him with lightning, to introduce how powerful he is as an antagonist and begin an important sub-plot with the "Dark Mark"... etc, etc. This chapter, however, doesn't have anything of that nature, so hopefully you won't have to cringe again, haha. And thanks! These realizations are all leading up to something... And that's a good point I'd never thought of; that was the only way I could think to show really old Deku scrub "corpses" lying about.

The Moon... or... Majora Fan...? I'm not entirely sure: I wish I could read the review I accidentally deleted, since I think you're referencing that, and I don't remember what it said... but it is certainly a very good thing that you did not fall and die over that five month period of time.


	19. Odolwa

_Chapter 19: Odolwa_

The stone was slowly pushed up, the light of the room they were in spilling into the darker one on the other side. Link, struggling to lift it, allowed the fairy and monkeys to pass underneath before slipping in himself, letting go of the door and allowing it to slide back into place. He turned to see this room was made of stone, unlike the dirt walls of the previous one; it was an enclosed staircase, spiraling downwards, its stone steps only lit by Tatl's glowing orb. The monkeys began to venture down it on their own without another word, Link and Tatl looking at one another before proceeding.

"How much further down can we go?" Tatl asked, recalling the dark hallway that had sloped downward quite a bit.

"I don't think that much further," Link responded, turning to look down the staircase residing without any light. "Something tells me we're almost there."

"Almost where?" the fairy asked, though answering the question herself almost as soon as she'd asked it.

"To wherever the monster is."

"Well, are you going to be ready?" Tatl asked after a moment's silence, restraining herself from once again asking about the ocarina. "Something tells me those goons were nothing compared to what's... down there."

"Those goons _were_ nothing; I dealt with that kind of stuff all the time in Hyrule. I'm definitely more worried by what's down there, because... something tells me it's related to Majora, and we've already seen what its magic could do." Vivid memories of the night atop the clock tower replayed in the fairy's head; she recalled the lightning that had struck Link, who'd flown up against the wall left for dead, before the ocarina had given him enough time to make it to Kotake. "And I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

The fairy nodded back, turning away from him and flying just ahead. "Then let's go, before we run out of time." Link and Tatl then both followed the small white creatures, who were by then much further ahead, going down and around the stairs as the darkness further enveloped them.

Link, intimidated by the deep silence of the staircase, began to feel his heart thumping loudly inside of his chest; a feeling of nervousness began to slowly descend on him, a weight on his shoulders he wasn't entirely sure he could carry. With each step he took, the orange orbs of the mask were burnt clearer into his head, as if it was the Skull Kid, and not some monster, waiting for him at the bottom. And, he suddenly thought, what if the Skull Kid was waiting for him at the bottom?

_That's impossible_, Link told himself quickly. He assured himself that the masked imp was on top of the clock tower, underneath the moon as he should be, waiting for Link, tossing the ocarina up and down in his hand... However, his eyes quickly went to the clay instrument on his belt, and he returned to the conversation he and Tatl had had just before falling into the trap.

_He didn't realize I'd gone back in time. It's not possible, Tatl; I don't think you understand how powerful this ocarina is._

_And I think you're underestimating how powerful the Skull Kid is. We can't keep hiding in repetitive three day cycles forever._

Link gulped at this thought, no longer confident in his ability to fight whatever was waiting for him at the end of the staircase. What if it proved too powerful for him? What if it, like the Skull Kid, could kill him with an instantaneous bolt of lightning? What if he was killed the second he stepped into the next room, with hardly any time to think about it? What if, as he lay dead, Tatl wasn't able to play the Song of Time, and the moon came down and ended everything... permanently?

He shook these thoughts from his head, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for only a moment. Link reasoned it was best to go in without spending too much time thinking about the monster; for all he knew, it could be another simple dinolfo. If he ever wanted to stand a chance against Majora's Mask, he would have to find enough courage to face its curse wherever it had been laid.

Link's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a rather large hole in the staircase. He, thankful that he'd been distracted from his rambling mind, stopped walking, the fairy halting just beside him, the two peering down into the depths of the gap. It stretched on for several feet before the staircase continued ahead and below them; they looked to the side to see the monkeys sidling along a thin ledge remaining from the lost stairs. As small as the monkeys' feet were, they were easily able to maneuver across the thin surface pressed up against the wall; when Link and Tatl had reached the gap, that had already crossed it, the two of them coming off of the ledge and continuing down the staircase as they stopped.

"Of course," the fairy stated grumpily, her expression irritated. "Was it too much to ask for a completed staircase?"

"I can just walk along the ledge like the monkeys did," Link theorized, looking at the ledge that went on for quite a bit; it went down and along the wall like the staircase would have, but his feet were larger than it, it also containing a few fissures and missing chunks.

"No, you can't!" Tatl objected. "Look at that thing; you'll fall!"

"I've crossed worse," Link stated, the fairy catching some hint of uneasiness in his voice and therefore unconvinced. He, however, had already pressed his back up against the wall and began to inch his way across it, only half of his booted feet fitted on the ledge.

"Hey, wait! Link, stop!" He took no noticed, looking down into the dark chasm below him with wide blue eyes as he inched his way across. "Don't be an idiot! Link, come back before it's too late!" Link almost slipped as the fairy said this, able to regain his balance just before he fell. "_Link!_"

"Stop...," Link began, as if intending to yell back at the fairy, but he found he didn't have the courage to do it, even talking appearing to be enough movement to potentially knock him off. Tatl could only hold her breath, waiting at the ledge Link had just left as he continued.

Then came another earthquake. Link, only able to hold his balance along the shaking wall for a split second, felt himself tipping over to fall. The fairy gasped as soon as the quaking began, watching in horror as Link's arms went straight out in some futile attempt to prevent the inevitable. Link's feet then left the ledge, and he fell down into the dark hole he'd been desperate to cross.

"_Link!_" Tatl screamed, flying down swiftly into the hole after him. The boy plummeted quickly, the staircase disappearing from view as he descended; seconds passed, Link unable to influence events further as gravity took complete dominion over him, his stomach lost and his mind blank. Eventually, whatever wall he was falling alongside began to slope down in his direction, Link rubbing up against it and slowing his descent before it went underneath him. Now rolling on a dirt surface sloping downward, still in complete darkness, Link tried his best to stop himself with his hands, but found his momentum was too great. He continued to roll, his shield, sword, and bag noisily banging around as he spun.

Then, the dirt floor underneath him left, and he rolled out into open air once more, except this time into a large, well-lit room. He fell several feet before slamming into a hard stone floor, landing on his side and exhaling painfully. Link, lying there for a moment in pain, began to stir soon after, flexing his fingers and toes to make sure everything still worked, his eyes opening from their being squeezed shut in agony.

"Link!" Tatl exclaimed, as she flew out of the hole in the wall he'd rolled out of. Link looked up to see identical holes lying horizontally along the walls, as if some sort of chute system for tunneling something into the room. They were far too high for him to reach from the floor; Link instantly realized he would have to find another way out of this room. Still facing the wall as opposed to the rest of the room behind him, he watched Tatl fly out of the hole and hurry down towards him. She stopped half-way, though, frozen in fear as she stared at something behind the green-clothed boy.

Link, looking up at her in confusion for only a moment, felt his heart skip a beat when he realized something was behind him. He heard small swishing noises, and he recognized them as far less intense versions of what he'd heard above while trapped in the stone room. Link slowly began to get to his feet and turn around, backing towards the fairy as he did so, beholding the room he'd fallen into.

It was massive, much larger than any room he had previously seen in the temple. It went around in a very wide circle, Link recognizing how exhausting it would be to simply run from rounded side to side. The room traveled up to form a very high ceiling, it almost completely concealed in darkness, the torches that were lower in order to light the floor of the room not able to spread their light far enough. Given the gigantic size of the stone room, Link also noticed that there were no open-able doors; the only ways in or out were the dirt chutes leading into the room, the same ones he couldn't reach and would be impossible to climb through anyways. The only door was so great in size that Link couldn't have possibly ever hoped to lift it; it appeared to be more of a massive, stone barrier than in an actual doorway.

In the center of the room, Link had his eyes fixed on a thick, long, rectangular slab of stone, it forming a smooth surface on the top. Lying on top of it, spread out and unconscious, was a Deku scrub. Link, however, was instantly able to realize this was no ordinary Deku scrub; it was the princess. A long, green plant growing from the top of her head, with a purple flower at the end, hung limply off of the clean, white, stone table and laid on the ground, her face young, with royal robes adorning her body. Her eyes were shut, however, and the more pressing matter happened to be what was surrounding her.

A black cloud of darkness was, it hovering around the still Deku princess; columns were rising out of the mass, acting almost like arms or tentacles as they went up and down the body of the young girl. The thick, dark mass was only partially visible, Link able to see through it to the other side of the otherwise empty room; its long, thin tentacles had reached inside of the girls snout and ears, rotating the entirety of the darkness in and out of her body, a small, continuous hissing noise resulting form the movement.

Link stared at this, mouth slightly agape, at the seemingly cognitive black entity covering the Deku scrub. Link's eyes also found something lying in between the table and himself on the floor: a monkey. This monkey, however, was obviously dead, its mouth hanging open and its limbs limp, deep gashes left in the corpse as its eyes, unable to see anything, remained open, frozen in a state of terror for eternity.

He eventually turned away from this small, white body to note one last thing in the room: a mask. It was floating several feet into the air above the table, directly over the cloud of darkness and the Deku scrub, hovering in place. It was rather large, far too big for Link's face, forming the face of a brown-skinned man with tribal paintings across its surface, three long, colorful stripes of some sort erect on top of what would be the head. The mask simply remained there, held in the air by some invisible force, the empty eye sockets baring down on Link from far above.

Link and the fairy could only stand there in awe, unsure what to do next as they remained side by side, speechless. It wasn't until the black cloud's central mass turned, as if to face them, that they did anything; though it didn't have a face, it was easy to tell that it had turned to observe them. Link, his heartbeat increasing once more as his sweaty hands reached back for his sword, stared widely at the creature. It removed its tentacles of darkness from inside of the Deku scrub and floated off of her, stopping as it made its way to be in between him and its captive. The fairy and boy stared at the monster they had found, Link bringing his sword and his shield into his hands and in front of him.

"_Tatl_," Link said, his voice shaking.

"Yes?" the fairy asked, unable to take her eyes away from the being in the center of the room.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked quietly, not breaking eye contact from the dark being, as it swirled around in a ball and made a serious of odd clicking noises, intent upon its prey. "Won't my sword go right through it?"

"I think...,"Tatl began, her eyes suddenly rising to see the mask floating above everything. "That mask..."

"_What about it?_" Link shot back harshly, irritated at her vagueness.

"It's a Deku deity, one of the demons they believe in," Tatl stated.

"The black thing?"

"No, the mask," Tatl answered, looking up at it, and feeling as if it was looking back at her. "Odolwa. It's a demon of the jungle; the stories say he was a warrior cursed by darkness, who then resigned to capturing any stray villagers who happened to come across his path, corrupting them as he had been."

"Then... what's the monster?" Link asked, shooting his sword out in front of him when the mass of darkness swiftly and unexpectedly shifted to the right; its speed was uncanny, but it had not approached him, merely taking a different angle.

"I think it's coming from the mask," Tatl said, but she suddenly shook her head. "But it's not possible, Link; the Deku deities aren't real..."

"Really? Because it's right here in front of me," Link said.

"But even the Deku scrubs thought it was just a myth; an old story!" Tatl protested.

"Tatl, _I'm looking at one right now!_" Link suddenly exclaimed. Then, without warning, it lunged; Link swung his sword as the darkness enveloped him, but his blade swished through the black curls with no effect. He could only scream as the black entity swished around him, lifting him into the air; everything was darkness as he felt his feet lift off of the ground, Link struggling uselessly. It felt as if hands were actually grabbing him, unable to move his neck or even kick his feet; his sword and shield were instantly torn away from him and tossed to the ground like toys, the weapons bouncing off of the stone surface and coming to rest near Tatl.

The fairy's wings froze in shock, Tatl unable to believe what she was seeing. Link had disappeared into a ball of darkness, which had then risen off of the ground. "_Link!_" she screamed, only able to watch as she heard her companions yells for help from within. Then, moments later, the ball of darkness began to come back towards the ground, releasing Link as his body limply fell to the ground. Tatl gasped as this happened, flying over to him as the monster backed away. The fairy, once she'd reached his side, turned to see the black entity split in half; one half of the demon was left suspended in the air as the other half returned to the princess.

Tatl watched the half that had been left behind swirl around to form some sort of shape, compacting itself into a smaller form as it returned to the ground. Link, meanwhile, stirred beside her, lifting his head to see what was happening, the swishing noises intense as a dark being was formed in front of them; the darkness had fashioned itself arms and legs, and the rest of its body continued to come to be. "I think you're right, Link," Tatl stammered as she witnessed this, the wind in the room whistling around them when she realized what was happening. "That is Odolwa, the jungle warrior; the demon."

Link, quickly getting to his feet as the new foe was formed, recognized the shape it was taking: his own. It became his doppelganger, except purely black, the same shade as the monster; its tunic, skin, hat, hair, boots, and weapons were all pure darkness, blending with one another. Once the entity had finished compacting itself into his form, it floated gently to the ground, opening its eyes to reveal they were bright red. Link stared at it in amazement, blue eyes meeting red, the black being reaching back and pulling out an identical, but dark, sword and shield.

"It's _you_," Tatl said.

Link was left speechless, however, suddenly remembering a similar foe from Hyrule; he lowered his sword as comprehension dawned on his face, realizing something. "Actually, I think you're right, Tatl; I've..." But he wasn't able to finish his sentence; the dark version of himself was already upon him, swinging its black blade directly at him. Link brought his sword up and the blades met in midair, himself swinging the dark sword off of his own and preparing for another attack.

Tatl gasped at the attack from the shadow Link, the fairy's attention switching to the stone table when she heard a new noise coming from it. The black entity had once again surrounded the princess, the tentacles having entered her snout and ears once again, except this time it sounded excited, the clicking and hissing noises much more intent. The skin of the Deku scrub began to pale, Tatl realizing that whatever it was doing to her was nearing completion.

"Hey, Link!" Tatl exclaimed, turning to face her blonde-headed companion. However, he was unable to notice, busy combating with the darkness that had taken on his own form. The fairy then nervously turned back to the person they'd come to save, her life ebbing away. "_Stop!_" she suddenly screeched, flying up to the table towards the monster. "Get off of her!"

The fairy began to fly madly around the darkness, it grunting angrily and raising a black arm in response. Tatl looked over just as it smacked into her, the fairy's light instantly going dim as she flew several feet through the air and landed on the ground. She moaned slightly as she struggled to get to her feet, failing to do so and collapsing as her vision blurred.

Link swung his sword once again, but Dark Link was able to bring its sword up just as he did, causing Link to stumble to the side before turning to face his opponent again. It was able to mirror every move he made, Link recalling the battle like this he'd had before.

"I know you're not Odolwa," Link stated, as if threatening it with this knowledge. Dark Link lunged instead of responding, Link blocking the attack with his sword and knocking it back. "I fought you in Hyrule, underneath Lake Hylia in the Water Temple; I remember you."

Dark Link only hissed in response, the noise similar to the one the cloud of darkness made; it suddenly fell into the ground, as if becoming one with its surface, going under Link and popping out of it on his other said. He hardly had time to spin around and block the sword strike that followed with his shield; he then, before Dark Lark could do anything else, swung his sword out from behind his metal barrier and caused the dark entity to step backwards and away.

"Admit it!" Link screamed, his eyes darting towards the monster excitedly preying on the princess, before turning back to the red-eyed shadow in front of him. "You're from Hyrule! How'd you get here, into Termina, and why is that Odolwa mask up there?" Dark Link refused to answer, merely staring at him. "_Answer me!_"

"_**I'm a child of the darkness**_," Dark Link then replied, its lips not visible, blending in with the darkness composing the rest of the face; its voice was blood-curdling, himself only able to compare it to the way in which the masked imp had spoken after he'd been struck with lightning. Its red, pupil-less eyes bore into his own blue ones that shone back boldly. "_**And the darkness is everywhere. In Hyrule. In Termina. In Odolwa's mask. In your heart.**_" Link gulped, holding his sword at the ready as the two began to circle one another. "_**Majora is not just a mask. She's everywhere; a manifestation of those darkest thoughts and fears**_."

Link wasn't sure how to take this or respond, not entirely sure if he even understood. "You... you didn't answer my question!" Link eventually decided to exclaim, attempting to calm himself, when he realized he was beginning to break out into a cold sweat and breathe in and out deeply. "How did you get here... from Hyrule?"

"_**The darkness is everywhere**_," Dark Link hissed, repeating what he'd said before and swinging out his sword. Link had been completely unprepared, his mind for some reason not as acute as it had been moments before; he weakly blocked the attack and found the dark blade coming towards his face anyways. Angry once he realized his one weakness, Link thrust his arm down and to the side, causing both of their swords to leave their hands.

Link, looking off at his blade in shock, turned to see that Dark Link had not gone to pick up its own sword. Instead, the shadow tossed its shield to the side and went towards Link, its dark hands reaching out for him. Link brought up his shield and backed away, the black fingers curling around the metal surface and beginning to pull. He began to pant, backing away as he desperately tried to fling the dark creature off of him; eventually, however, he backed too far, and was up against the wall, Link not even turning around to confirm this as Dark Link's power obviously began to exceed his own.

Now cowering against the wall behind his shield, the shadow pushed it to the side and grabbed his neck. Link's blue eyes went wide as their noses were now an inch from each other, blue frightfully beholding the red only just across from him, Dark Link's pointed teeth barred. Link thought he heard Tatl scream for him in the distance, but everything began to fade away into darkness; Dark Link... the stone table and the princess... the black entity... the entire room...

* * *

The forest was dark, the nighttime sky pitch-black as the trees stood still and ominous. He looked back and forth, admiring the cold and uncaring manner in which the tall, thick trees seemed to stand. Turning around, he saw the charred remains of the forest fire the astronomer had spoken of; he happened to, at that moment, be standing at the tree line that marked where the fire had failed to consume the rest of the forest. He then looked up into the sky, at the moon appearing now to rest on the clock tower, its wide orange eyes beholding the kingdom it sought to crush entirely.

He smiled wickedly at the dark rock, turning back to the forest and raising his hands as the Earth began to quake again.

* * *

Link's eyes shot open, himself taking in huge gulps of air as he came back to himself; however, he remained slightly disoriented by the fact that the quaking seemed to be happening here too, Tatl feeling it just as he was. It stopped momentarily as it always did, Link realizing he was slumped up against the wall of the room with the stone table still, lying on the floor with the fairy just in front of him.

"Link! Come on, wake up!" Tatl pleaded, flying back and forth in front of his face worriedly. Link coughed as he opened his eyes, getting to his feet shakily before a sudden, sharp pain gripped his chest. Link's hands flew to it, stumbling slightly even after he'd stood up and squeezing his eyes shut; it was the black mark on his chest, the scar. The pain was suddenly new again, and fierce, though it began to die away almost as soon as it had came, Link bringing his head up to look at Tatl sadly.

"Is it... you?" Tatl asked, worried as she said this.

Link's brow furrowed in confusion at this, still panting as he straightened and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Who else would it be?" he asked, his blue eyes showing a hint of anger as he looked at her. The fairy did not respond, afraid to. Link ignored this, looking passed her to see that the black cloud of darkness was still swirling around the Deku princess.

"What happened to Dark Link?" he suddenly asked, looking around to see that the red-eyed shadow was no longer anywhere to be seen. "Where...?" Link stopped short, however, when he saw that Tatl was still staring at him, not responding and appearing to still be frightened. "What happened, Tatl? Tell me what happened!"

Tatl didn't respond, closing her eyes before taking a deep breath and opening them. "Look, there's no time!" she exclaimed, turning to look at the monster still excitedly hovering over the Deku scrub. "In just a couple of minutes, she's going to be dead; you need to worry about _that_."

"But Dark Link?" Link inquired, still not understanding. "What if he comes back?"

"He won't," Tatl said immediately. "He's... gone."

"How...?"

"Look, I don't have time to explain; just do something about that thing before it kills her!"

Link's eyes, eager for answers, turned instead to the stone table once more, and he realized she was right. "Alright," he stammered, stepping to be in front of the fairy and looking at the darkness directly. He racked his brain for a way in which he could attack, or even effect it, and his eyes found the mask hovering high above the sacrifice's table. "The mask!"

"Odolwa's mask?" Tatl inquired, looking down curiously at Link as he reached into his bag. He pulled out his bow, and the fairy understood immediately. Just then, the two of them heard a noise coming from the table, and their heads instantly turned to see the darkness once again leaving the princess, turning its nonexistent face in their direction. It only took a moment for it to see Link's notched bow, and the dark entity roared in disapproval, instantly hissing in his direction bullet-like.

It was too late, however; the string was released, and the arrow zipped through the air. Link and Tatl, having been watching the arrow arc upward, turned instead to see the dark creature only a few feet in front of them, still flying towards them at full speed. They cowered together just as it was upon them, the arrow traveling through the mask at that moment.

The dark being recoiled just in front of them in response, writhing in the air painfully as the mask fell from its invisible perch and began to fall towards the stone floor. The darkness retracted towards the falling the mask with the arrow through its center, Link and Tatl looking up to see what was transpiring. The mask hit the ground just in front of the table, rolling around slightly before coming to a rest.

The monster, as soon as it had reached it, began to fly around it, Link realizing that it was flying _inside_ of it. The mask began to float into the air once more, arrow still in its face, as all of the black creature was fully absorbed. Soon, the hissing had stopped, and the mask was floating by itself with no entity left at all. Then, a body began to grow from behind it, its arms and legs born in an instant; soon, a monstrously tall being of some sort fit for the mask was standing before them. Like the mask, it was also brown-skinned and covered in tribal paintings hardly allowing one to identify it as such, but it was unimaginably tall for any normal human being, dwarfing the rest of the room in comparison. Standing as tall as any house he'd ever seen, the new entity conjured out of thin air a shield and sword of proportional size, the thin stripes still on top of its head and its eyes now orange instead of empty. Its arms were thick and muscular, its torso similarly built, with a hard, round stomach and chiseled chest.

The creature, once fully formed, brought the hand holding the sword up to its face and pulled the arrow out of it, tossing it to the ground and turning towards Link and Tatl, who looked up at it fearfully. It then turned to the roof and held its arms up into the air, dancing back and forth on both feet as it began to chant in some unknown language.

"... Now _that_," Tatl gulped, head craned back to view the entity in its entirety, "... is Odolwa."

Link, before he'd given the new masked enemy any time to finish chanting, sprinted towards his sword and shield after stowing his bow away, equipping himself once more with his two primary weapons of defense. Odolwa, looking down from the roof, then turned to find Link, taking massive steps towards him; regardless of the size of the creature, it found no difficultly in moving quickly, Link wondering whether or not it or the entity of darkness had been faster.

It brought back its sword and sent the blade swinging down at the boy just about the size of his feet; Link hadn't realized just how long the blade was until that moment, understanding that conventional methods of blocking were useless against such a massive weapon. He then dove slightly above the direction of the sword, it swinging just passed him, the wind the strike had made brushing against the side of his face as it passed. Link landed on his feet and spun around, walking backwards now as Odolwa turned to face him once more. The jungle warrior responded in more incoherent babble, shaking its head violently now as it looked down at Link.

He, deciding the odd spectacle would be amusing under different circumstances, quickly slipped his sword into his scabbard and drew his bow, arrow already in the hand still armed with a shield. The arrow was zipping across the room in only a couple of seconds, Link's speed as an archer still perfected. Odolwa, however, seemed to match it; his shield came up before the arrow could hit him, it bouncing off of the shield and leaving him uninjured. Link, only slightly phased by this, drew back the string again; though, Odolwa gave him no time to do this, beginning to crouch down and spin in circles, sword held out dangerously.

Link's eyes widened when he realized it was now spiraling towards him as a snapper would, except with one long sword rather than multiple spikes. He quickly released the bow without much though as to where the arrow was going, turning around and returning the bow to his bag as he once again drew his sword. He swiftly ran away from the fast approaching warrior, who'd bent down far enough to make sure his blade was level with Link's face. Odolwa came too quickly for Link, and he was forced to turn and face the demon just as it had reached him. Link closed his eyes held up his shield just as the sword came around and struck it; the force behind the spin caused Link to leave his feet and fly across the room. He landed painfully up against the stone table the Deku princess still rested on, sliding down to lie at its base; Link, initially lying there for only a moment, quickly got to his feet when his brain reminded him of the urgency in the current situation.

Odolwa, however, had beat him, recovering from his spin attack much quicker; the jungle warrior was already once again looking up at the roof and dancing as he chanted. Link, crouched down behind his sword and shield with the table at his back, looked up in confusion, caught by complete surprise when a ring fire suddenly drew itself around him. It made sure to enclose the table too, but was no where near large enough to allow Link any room to move, the tall flames high above his head, their heat forced upon him as the air suddenly became thick. He breathed only baked air, coughing harshly and cowering away from the flames against the table, trying to get as far away from them as he could, the table at the center of the circle and therefore the furthest point from the ring. Sweat instantly broke out, but it was nothing near what would be required to cool him down; the fierce sting of the fire was great as it crackled with life not but a few feet away from him.

Link turned away from the flames dancing in front of his face, putting it up against the once cool surface of the stone slab, his back now facing the ring. He, however, upon looking down where the table met the floor, noticed something; underneath it, golden vines and leaves poked out, just barely, as if the stone surface the Deku princess rested on was covering some sort of plant. He then looked up at the Deku scrub in question, who remained just as unconscious as ever, regardless of the sweat now beading her face.

Link's attention turned towards the ring of fire blazing around him when he heard Odolwa shout something near by. The demon was looking down into the orange circle from far above, shaking his head back and forth and looking at Link directly, his mouth wide open. As soon as the incoherent words had ended, Link still looking up as worried, confused, and shocked as ever, something else began to fly out of his mouth: moths. Hundreds of tiny, winged insects began to fly towards him, down into the ring of fire keeping him trapped next to the table. He instantly turned his face into the table as they began to flock around him, but he soon found this impossible to do, small explosions of pain occurring all around his body. He realized these were the moths eating at his skin, and Link began to bat them away, each swing of his arm drawing his hand far too close to the fire for comfort.

He found himself in a paradox: the heat of the fire restrained him from moving at all, but the moths prevented him from being able to stand still; he would either be eaten alive or burnt to a crisp. Link attempted to make the best of both worlds while he could, however, swinging his sword around in arcs as small as he could make, only barely managing to keep the flesh-hungry insects at bay. Once he felt his arm sting with pain for what felt like the hundredth time, Link began to stand up, backing on to the table besides the princess and continuing to fight the moths away in vain, the fire still burning brightly. Odolwa, in the meanwhile, continued to dance excitedly just beside his burning victim.

It was then that Link heard a loud, swishing noise, it sounding as if something wet was sloshing around; he was unable to see what it was, however, his face bent down inward away from the moths and the fire obscuring his vision otherwise. It wasn't long, though, before the flames suddenly died away entirely, and Link looked up to see water completely surrounding the table. His head turned to find its source, looking to the side to see it running from one of the dirt chutes leading into the room, bellowing forth in large quantities. The floor had already begun to collect it, responsible for extinguishing the fire. Link then looked to see Tatl floating just beside the opening of the chute gushing forth water, beside her standing the two remaining monkeys, both dripping wet and smiling broadly.

He, unable to turn his attention to them due to the moths, continued fighting them as he now jumped off of the table, splashing around in the water as much as he could, flailing his arms around. Odolwa seemed to noticed the fire was gone, though, approaching him as it ended its singing and dancing. Link, hearing Odolwa coming towards him, quickly reached into his bag and applied his Deku mask; he began firing green goop in every direction possible, spinning around madly and squealing as he did so. As soon as Deku scrub Link had stopped, he looked up to see the moths now lying around him, each encased in the slime from within his snout, and also Odolwa's sword, coming down towards him. Link gasped, removing the mask and rolling out of the way just as the blade came crashing down into the water beside him.

Tatl, pleased with what she had done as soon as the fire began to go out, grew nervous as soon as water began to trickle out of the chute next to the one currently spewing it out madly. "What the-?" Tatl began, looking at it curiously and causing the monkeys to turn around as well. It was then that a burst of water flew out, it no longer trickling and rivaling the power of the one next to it; Tatl jumped back in shock, only to be forced back into it by the stream behind her. The fairy then had to fly up and away, noticing water beginning to shoot out of almost all of the other chutes in the room, it spreading across the floor quickly and beginning to double it and fill the bottom. The monkeys ran away from them madly, Tatl flying down towards them as water began to enter the large room from all around.

"We have to turn it off!" Tatl exclaimed, flying around the monkeys in order to stop them from panicking.

They eventually calmed and looked up at the fairy. "No can do!" one shouted, clapping his hands into the air for emphasis.

"Too much water!" added the other, the sound of water swirling around them.

"Well we just wanted to put out the fire!"Tatl exclaimed. "I didn't plan on drowning him!" The monkeys looked at one another gravely, before turning to one of the only remaining dry chutes and climbing up it, Tatl turning worriedly to face Link before following them up the dry passageway.

Link ran away from Odolwa as he spun towards him once more, sword out and ready to strike, sending a whirlwind of water around him now as it chased the boy running away, his boots heavy in the water beginning to collect. Link realized he wouldn't be able to run away, as he hadn't last time, turning around and notching his bow when Odolwa was only feet from him. He released the string and then jumped out of the way, the jungle warrior leaving his circle and howling, the arrow stuck in his shoulder. Huge waves of water shot into the air as Odolwa began to slide across the floor, the momentum from his spin still sustained, Link backing away safely after a massive wave of water had crashed over him from the passing monster.

Link gasped when, unexpectedly, a burning sensation hit his ankle. He quickly jumped back, looking down into the water to see what had caused it; he couldn't see anything, however, only a small, dark cloud of murkiness amidst the rest of the water. A thin, dark line lead out of the cloud, which Link's eyes followed back up to the one of the chutes releasing water, the foam from that particular vent beginning to change a certain color. It was then that he understood, turning back to his boot to see that a hole had been burnt into it and a small part of his foot was red. Link swallowed nervously as he looked back up, the stream now a vibrant purple, the water now moving more sluggishly out, the rest of the chutes pouring water beginning to follow suit.

Link spun around when he heard Odolwa chanting behind him; the jungle warrior now seemed angry, back on his feet and dancing madly once more, shaking his head now more violently than ever. He wondered what spell could be next, knowing that the fire would now be useless as well as the moths now that he couldn't be trapped; his question was only slightly answered when the room began to shake. At first taking this to be an earthquake caused by the moon, he realized that this was instead caused by the demon in the room; Link looked up at the darkness of the roof to see something fall from it. It was a large boulder, hurtling from seemingly out of no where down directly at where he was standing, as large as himself; Link, understanding how difficult it was to move in the water, realized that Odolwa seemed to have a spell to suit whatever current handicap Link possessed.

He quickly lifted his feet sluggishly and pushed through the water, taking care to avoid any purple patches as the boulder crashed behind him; the shock sent him into the air and crashing down elsewhere in the room. His face landed in the water in an inch away from the poisonous portion, and Link quickly got back to his feet and backed away. Now that the chutes were all slowly pouring out poisonous water, he noticed that only a large ring of clean water remained, centered at the table, the water at all of the edges and underneath the chutes dark violet.

Link backed toward the center of the room, noticing that it was still shaking and looking up to see multiple more boulders beginning to rain down. He narrowly avoided another one much smaller than the first, it still proving to be lethal were it to hit him, as it zipped straight through the water into the stone floor. The rocks continued to come down, Link avoiding them; after one such instance, he turned to see a rock smash into the edge of the table, narrowly missing the princess's head. Link, realizing she was in grave danger as long as the boulders continued to rain down, began to run towards the center of the room, the poisonous water also inching itself in that direction and taking over the clear.

Odolwa continued to chant in one of the corners of the room, angrily screaming at the sky; no boulders reached him and, being in the middle of the purple water, it had no effect on him.

Link dodged another boulder just as he reached the table, it blocking his pathway to it and causing him to go around to the other side. He quickly hopped on, water dripping down onto the table as he leapt onto its surface. He bent down and scooped the limp princess into his arms, her face pale and dotted with water; at that moment, the shadow of a boulder completely shrouded the table, and Link looked up to see it just above him. He instinctively leapt off of the stone slab with the princess in his arms, and the rock came smashing down into, cracking it in half and sending pieces of stone flying in multiple directions. Link landed into the water and held the princess close as he curled into a protective ball, knowing that stone and rock were showering all around him as he held his breathe underneath the liquid.

After the noise of the explosion ceased, Link broke the surface of the water and took deep gasps of air, the boulders still raining all around. He, before turning away from the table, noticed that it had been completely destroyed, only remnants surrounding what had been revealed underneath: a Deku flower. It was much larger than any he had ever seen before, shining brightly above the water in a beautiful tint of gold. The bright leaves glistened in the water, the vines curling gracefully around it; the golden Deku flower was a work of art, it puffing out as soon as the table that had smothered it was gone.

Link, the princess still in his arms, side-stepped one last boulder before the room stopped shaking. He turned to see Odolwa look down from the roof, looking more furious than ever to learn that Link had survived his latest spell. The boy also noticed that the poisonous water had now almost completely closed in on him, not much larger than the ring of fire that had been there earlier. Link then looked up once more at Odolwa, who'd begun charging toward him, sword raised as he screamed in fury, having quite a distance to go before he reached Link but also covering it quickly, as always. Link turned to look from the poisonous water, to the princess, to the jungle warrior charging at him, and then finally to the golden Deku flower that had been revealed underneath the stone table, before smiling.

He quickly laid the princess down on a chunk of stone lying beside him, rushing towards the Deku flower with Odolwa charging just behind him. The water resisted, however, the demon able to move much more swiftly since the water barely reached his ankles; Link had no such luck, pressing on in determination regardless. His right hand reached into his bag for his Deku scrub mask as his left pulled his sword out of his scabbard, reaching the edge of the flower just as the massive blade was swung down at his head, Odolwa's orange eyes wide and raging, just above him.

The transformation happened in an instant, and Link disappeared into the depths of the golden flower with all of his possessions hidden in his human form. The demon's sword came crashing down into the water just beside the flower, Odolwa looking down in confusion at where the boy had disappeared. Deku scrub Link, meanwhile, sighed with relief at the relaxing feeling he achieved as soon as he'd entered the flower; it felt biologically right, as it always did, but the sensation was this time much stronger, given the perfection of the flower. Link realized he had no time to indulge in this, however, Odolwa already straightening back up and preparing to drill his sword into the golden plant he was hiding in, the demon's reaction time much faster than that of the dinolfo's.

Link, despite this fast reaction, had been prepared for it; he shot out of the depths of the flower as soon as the sword was driven into it, tearing through the middle of the sacred plant. Link soared through the air, shooting up much faster and higher than he ever had before; his snout was curled into a smile as he hung in the air high over Odolwa's head, who turned to look up, still bent over the flower, as Link descended. The Deku scrub put his hand to his face as Odolwa brought up his sword, Link falling down at him from above as the jungle warrior swung his sword from underneath.

He was a human again as soon as the mask was removed, sword already ready in hand as he flew towards the monster's face. Link and Odolwa both screamed as they flew towards one another, both in cries of battle rather than in fear or anguish; Tatl and the two monkeys watched from one of the dry chutes in suspense.

Link spun away from the blade as it came up towards him, managing to avoid it; he then brought up his arm holding the sword and plunged it directly through Odolwa's face as he reached it. The jungle warrior's scream turned into that of horror as its sword and shield fell from its hands as they shot open in shock, freezing as both of its eyes failed to turn enough to see the boy holding onto a sword buried in between them.

Link then fell, away from Odolwa and his sword that remained jammed in his face, falling towards the poisonous water below, back first. The demonic jungle warrior continued to scream as Link spun around to face the water forward, still falling; he applied the Deku mask just before crashing into the thick, purple liquid. It managed to stop his fall just enough as he sank to the bottom, Link able to stand up in the shallow water, his large Deku head barely breaking the surface his small body was completely submerged in.

Odolwa did not cease screaming in terror, its hands groping at the wound in its face, unable to do anything about it. Darkness began to issue from the fissure that had been created, pouring out and disappearing into the air; Link watched in amazement near Odolwa's feet and Tatl and the monkeys from afar, as his body began to peel away in small flakes. Bits of skin began to pop off and disappear into smoke, which quickly vanished, the entirety of the monster vanishing into nothing before their eyes. Its body disappeared only to leave its face, floating in the air, an empty mask, the eyes also disappearing into smoke as the last of the demonic screams vanished into a great echo.

The mask hung into the air for only a moment, the sword sliding out before the rest fell, the hole that had been left sealing itself. It then fell like a thin rock, the sword splashing heavily in the poisonous water before the mask was able to. Link, still in his Deku scrub form, watched it hit the surface of the water and begin to float there, completely motionless. And then all was silent and still, Link noticing that the chutes of poisonous water had, at least for the moment, ended their pursuits.

"You did it!" Tatl exclaimed excitedly, breaking the silence from far across the room, her voice echoing in its emptiness. "You killed the monster!" The fairy flew over towards Link happily, beaming; the monkeys, meanwhile, remained in the chute, hesitant to step out into the purple water. The young, blonde Deku scrub returned her smile as she flew over towards him, himself bending down into the water and picking up his sword before meeting her. "I can't believe it! You actually did it!" Link nodded, only able to return her smile for the time being. "I mean, no matter how much I doubted you, or said we should quit and just play the Song of Time... we finished, with a couple of hours to spare too, probably!"

"_You helped too_," Link responded, his voice again squeaky and high-pitched. "_When you..._" He stopped short, however, looking around the room at the small pool of poisonous of purple water. "... _brought the entire swamp crashing down in here._"

Tatl, catching his tone of sarcasm, scoffed in response, "Hey, I only meant to put the fire out! Besides, it was the monkeys who said they'd found some chambers of water at the tops of most of the chutes; I didn't ask questions when I saw the fire around you... or realize it would eventually run out of _clean_ water."

"_I'm not complaining_," Link said, shrugging his shoulders and turning away from her as he began walking towards the princess. "_It all worked out in the end_."

At that moment, a hissing noise began to fill the room, and Link suddenly spun around, frightened as his eyes found the mask. It had begun to rise into the air, and Link held up his sword in front of him as his face turned into that of shock.

"Oh no...," Tatl began, as the mask began to spin around in circles. A bluish aura began to shine around it, the mask pulsating bright blue light now. A white light soon began to expand from it and spread across the entire room, Link covering his face and eyes and its intensity as it passed through him and Tatl, going on to fill the rest of the room and beyond. The white light faded away soon, leaving only the small, glowing blue one to surround the mask, which came to hover just over the surface of the water, still pulsating but no longer spinning or moving in any other way.

Link looked at it curiously, wondering what had happened, but quickly noticed what it had done: the water was no longer purple. All of the liquid now filling the room had lost its purple tint, and returned to its original state of purity. Link beamed up at Tatl once he realized what had happened, looking at the chutes and wondering if all of the water in the swamp had suddenly been purified. Also, at that moment, the princess coughed, and Link turned quickly to see her shakily pushing herself up, her coughs rattling her entire body as she finally awoke atop the chunk of stone.

Link and Tatl began to walk over towards her as the princess slid off of the stone, the mask still glowing blue behind them and the monkeys climbing down from the chute across the room. The female Deku scrub squealed, however, when she landed neck deep in water; she screeched as she hastily scrambled back on top of the stone, looking around herself frantically at her surroundings.

"_Where am I?_" she screeched, panicking now as she lay weakly above the water.

"_You're safe, princess_," Link said, approaching her at the base of the stone she rested on. The Deku princess looked down at this young boy standing below her, as if unsure what to think, looking at his worn, exhausted condition with wide eyes.

"Who're you?" she said, narrowing her eyes as she came to herself more fully. "I demand you answer me at once!"

"Hey!" Tatl retaliated, the fairy flying to be just in front of her face, the female Deku scrub obviously not having expected this. "We just spent the passed twenty-four hours risking our lives to save you! Now stop being a pompous freak and show him some respect!" The princess merely stared at the fairy blankly, unsure how to react and blatantly not used to such treatment; Link only looked away, not wanting to get involved with the argument sure to result.

"You... saved me?" the Deku princess asked, turning away from Tatl and facing Link, who looked up, surprised she had not screamed back at the fairy. The young, blonde scrub nodded, the princess then turning to continue examining the massive room she found herself in; chunks of stone, including the one she was sitting on, and multiple boulders littered the room, the entire floor submerged in water. A golden flower, beginning to wither due to it being cut in half, was only a few feet away from her, and she turned to see two monkeys staring down at something lying in the water.

Their small eyes shone sadly at the object floating on the surface, hardly recognizable due to the effects of the poisonous water. They stared silently at the body, as if unable to comprehend what had happened. At first hesitant to do so, one of the monkeys reached into the water, his small fingers curling to caress the small, lifeless hand of his lost brother.

* * *

Replies to "Unrepliable" Reviews:

EvynthePhoenix: Thanks! While I'll definitely agree that Majora's Mask doesn't have the best gameplay of the Zeldas, I do agree with you that it's a candidate for best story!

Jane: Hm... That's come across my mind once or twice, honestly, but with myself drawing the conclusion to avoid anything of that nature. I won't say yes or no; I suppose it's up to the reader to decide what exactly the extent of Link and Tatl's relationship is, and while there won't ever be any romance between them in this narrative, their relationship is one of the major, if not the most important, focuses of the story.

The Moon: Well, thanks for complimenting my [/inserts whatever word it is that was found suitable to describe this project]!


	20. The Final Night

__Note: The following two chapters are planned on being the next "two part" resolution to this "second part" of the story. Given how long and crucial this next part of the story will be, it may be a while before I update again. I'll try my best to, but know that I still intend to finish it out, and will hopefully get to the mountains some time in the near future.

* * *

_Chapter 20: The Final Night_

They were only able to watch as the two monkeys surrounded the corpse, each small, white creature unable to fully grasp what had happened. The Deku princess still remained atop the chunk of stone as she observed the mourning primates, her eyes beginning to shine as she turned to once again face the blonde Deku scrub and fairy in the water.

"I don't understand what's happened," she finally said, after a moment's thought, overwhelmed with everything surrounding her. "That monster, that black thing... is it dead?"

"_Yes_," Link answered, when Tatl didn't.

"And... you slayed it?" she asked, still sitting awkwardly above the water, as if unsure as to whether or not she should jump down. The blonde Deku scrub nodded in response. "Wha... who are you?"

"_Link_," he responded, making sure to enunciate in his Deku scrub form, so as to avoid ever again being referred to as 'Mr. Ink'.

This didn't seem to answer her question, however, but upon looking back at the monkeys on the other side of her, her face suddenly beamed with understanding. "Were you, by chance, asked by that other monkey to come save me?" When Link nodded, she continued, "And is he... okay? He hasn't ended up..." The princess didn't finish, but she didn't need to when they followed her gaze to the only lifeless body in the room.

"Actually, he kind of needs our help right now," Tatl answered, flying to be just in front of Link again, rather than beside him. "Your father thinks he tricked you into opening the temple before kidnapping you, and had planned on executing him." The princess, upon hearing this, instantly snapped her head around to face the fairy. "And that was several hours ago! We might be too late..."

The princess, after a moment of looking off on her own, turned intently back to Link and Tatl. "W-well, we haven't any time to lose!" She slipped off of the stone once again, except this time remained submerged, peaking her head out as Link was forced to.

"There's one problem with that, though," Tatl said, looking around the room now. "How do we get out of here?" The fairy, when she didn't hear a response from Link, turned to see him staring at the mask oddly, deep in thought. "You okay, Link?"

"_Yeah, it's just..._" The Deku scrub stopped short, however, shaking his head and looking at Tatl firmly. "_I think I know how to get us out of here_."

"You do?" Tatl asked, raising an eyebrow as Link dropped his sword and removed the mask from his face. His body and items returned to him, the bag floating in the water and causing him some difficulty when attempting to place the mask inside. He soon had this accomplished, however, sliding the sword into his scabbard and turning to see the Deku princess horrified, staring at him an awe.

"You... you...," she began, backing away from him and shaking her head until she was up against the stone she'd been lying on.

"Morphed into a human?" Link finished her sentence, smiling slightly as he began to wade through the water towards the monkeys. "Yeah, I'm not really a Deku scrub; the mask allows me to take on that form." The princess seemed to take this in slowly as she looked away, Tatl smiling to herself as she went to follow Link.

Both monkeys were now crying silently at their brother's death, on either side of the body and only one of them lightly holding his limp hand. They looked up sadly at Link, now standing before them. Their expressions were blank, only able to convey sorrow as they turned back to their brother slowly. "We'll take him with us."

The monkeys, taking a moment to comprehend, didn't seem phased by what he'd said even after they understood, turning away from the human after briefly thinking. Link took a few more steps closer and put his arms underneath the deformed monkey body, lifting it out of the water, the monkey holding its hand falling away willingly. Water cascaded from the wet fur that remained, noisily returning to the fluid filling the rest of the room. The monkeys looked up at him as if he were some sort of God after this, mouths agape and still unable to properly react to the loss of their loved one. "We can bury him in the forest."

The monkeys, rather than respond, remained standing, watching Link as he turned around and began to walk towards the mask, Tatl waiting behind him in confusion. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To the mask," he said, turning to face her as he said this, monkey still in his arms. "I think something's going to happen when I touch it."

"Uh... yeah, Link, it's slowly rotating and glowing blue. But I was thinking we should _avoid_ touching it, seeing how it just tried to kill us."

"Well, I was thinking we should all make sure to be in contact with each other when _I_ touch it." As Link said this, he reached the mask, stopping before it and turning now to face the skeptical two monkeys, fairy, and a Deku scrub all standing by the rock the latter had been lying on top of.

"Oh, that's the best idea you've had yet!" Tatl exclaimed sarcastically. "That way, if it's fatal, it'll kill all of us in one blow."

"Look, I have an inkling this is going to do something," Link said, his blue eyes meeting hers. "Can't you trust me?"

"Ha, like nothing bad ever happens after I hear _that_!" The monkeys, however, went onwards without saying anything, traveling through the water to remain beside Link, leaving Tatl and the princess behind. "Oh, you managed to convince the mindless monkeys; congratulations."

The Deku princess, who'd been staring off as she mused over the transformation she'd seen Link undergo, gasped when Tatl said this, turning to look at the fairy appalled. "Their brother just died!" she exclaimed, this snide remark from the fairy obviously enough to convince her of joining Link, leaving Tatl by the stone.

"... I didn't mean it like that!" Tatl exclaimed after the retreating Deku princess, looking over at Link to see him smiling to himself. "Ugh, I can't stand you sometimes! … All right, fine." The fairy shrugged, now flying over herself. "I suppose I should be a little less bitter after our grandiose accomplishment; you did defeat Odolwa... so even though every ounce of common sense is telling me to avoid touching the glowing mask that, just minutes ago, was home to a cloud of darkness that tried to kill and/or possess all of us... I'll do it."

"That's the spirit," Link remarked, still smiling to himself as she joined him, the entire group now just in front of the pulsating remains of Odolwa. They remained standing before it in silence for a moment, either in awe or hesitance to actually go through with making contact.

"Well, if we're going to do this thing, let's do it," Tatl said, floating down to be resting on his shoulder, clinging to the green fabric.

"Okay, everyone else grab a hold of me too," Link said, looking down to see the monkeys and Deku scrub clinging to his legs, with the corpse in his arms. He turned to meet his fairy's eyes before nodding, shifting the weight of the body into one arm, and then reaching out his right hand. His eyes were wide as they reflected the blue light, his fingers touching the surprisingly cold wooden surface of the mask.

Instantly, it blinded them all, the room surrounding them giving way to a new golden aura as a ringing noise filled their ears.

* * *

As a result of the spontaneity with which it had occurred, Link's senses reeled in confusion as soon as he found himself somewhere else. Everything was bright, his ears still unable to perceive any noises as he stumbled a few steps forward, catching himself just before he collapsed. He brought his hands up to his forehead as his mind began to clear, vision slowly returning to him as the ringing faded. Link brought his head, his vision much brighter than he thought it should be. When turning to see Tatl just beside him, he noted that the fairy seemed to be just as confused as he was, and that the new place where they now found themselves seemed to glow brightly, rather than his eyes being at fault.

It took him a few seconds longer to realize that the monkeys and princess had vanished, leaving only himself and Tatl standing on some sort of platform. The more he tried to interpret his surroundings, the more he realized how dreamlike it all was, the sky a shimmering mixture of green light, with water coming down from it in large columns, pouring into the sea of clouds surrounding the platform, which he realized was hundreds of feet into the air. His brow wrinkled in confusion, Link's brain not able to ground itself in reality, unsure as to whether or not this place was even real, its surreal qualities soothing. Amidst the uncertainty, he did seem to understand that there was only himself and Tatl, on a lone, tall platform in the middle of this dream, nothing else in the distance, at least that he'd noticed.

"What's that?" Tatl's familiar voice, cutting sharply and certainly, seemed to root him somewhat to his own reality in this mysterious place, contrasting with the abstractness of everything else. He turned to the fairy, and after achieving this new sense of self, was able to follow her gaze off to something in the distance.

It was hardly perceptible amidst the glowing light, clouds, and water that surrounded it: a dark brown spot. It seemed to be a creature of some sort, the ball that could have been its face on top of two long, slender legs traveling down to rest on top of the clouded ground. This was confusing to Link, however, because it didn't seem to have much of a torso, or maybe a face; it did, however, seem to have arms that were just as long. All of this, he couldn't be sure of, only able to make these assumptions based on the silhouette it made from so far away.

"Is that... a spirit?" Link asked, his eyes squinting in the distance, reality beginning to slip away once again as he tried to understand more of his surroundings. "Was it sealed inside of the mask?"

"Wait!" Tatl exclaimed, Link not bothering to retort himself when his ears heard something other than the peaceful swishing of everything else. It was a voice, powerful, deep, and song-like; it echoed across the beautiful landscape and seductively drew Link further away from himself, as if this new place was intent upon ripping him from his body and allowing him to forever fly amongst the clouds. He, upon shaking these sensations away, drew the conclusion that this sound was coming from the brown spot with arms and legs far off into the distance; he turned his attention towards it, the fairy doing so as well. "Listen, it seems to be saying something."

"It sounds more like... singing," Link added, taking a step closer to the edge of the platform and almost slipping. His brain instantly snapped out of its dreamy state at this shock, looking down to see that he was still dripping water from the flooded room in the temple, responsible for almost causing him to fall. He now carefully stepped off of the water, though his boots were still wet, as were the rest of the clothing and items adorning his body. Link looked back up to Tatl after this, wet hair still damp against his forehead, the drenched hat remaining balled up in his bag, to see that the fairy had yet to receive any shock such as this. She continued to stare off into the distance, lulled by the singing voice.

"Could that crying be its way of teaching us some sort of melody?" the fairy said, just before Link had been about to speak.

Link, almost angered by the way in which the environment seemed to grip the fairy and had previously himself, realized she was right, and looked back at the spot in the distance. The voice returned to the same pitches, the melodic pattern ringing towards them from afar. The notes began to lull him, Link at a complete loss to their beauty and grace.

"Don't just stand there!" Tatl snapped, Link realizing he'd been entering a trance again, and that perhaps the fairy wasn't as helplessly entranced as he'd thought. "Get your instrument!"

Link, taking only a moment to return to himself, slid his hand into the pocket on his belt and pulled out the clay ocarina, with the black mark still engraved across its surface. Putting it up to his mouth, he quickly found the right pitches, as he had always done before. In only a short minute, Link was playing along with the creature far off into the distance, his melody just as beautiful as the being singing, the fairy once again impressed at the boy's musical genius. His notes were in no way stunted by the majesty of the creature's voice; they became one.

When the spirit stopped, Link did as well, bringing his arms down and clutching the blue instrument tightly in his right hand. After this had happened, the brown spot began to speak once more, it's great voice just as mighty and awesome as it had been when singing.

"Call us."

Link and Tatl, standing side by side, stared in collective awe at the majestic creature surrounded by bliss. Neither of them noticed as the golden light began to once again envelope them, at first only believing it to be part of this dream. Regardless, the creature was soon gone entirely, as was everything else, the light only remaining.

* * *

When Link's senses returned next, it was with surprising clarity. With the light now faded and himself once again in the swamp, everything seemed much clearer than it had moments ago on the platform. Even though it was in the dead of night, the stars illuminating Woodfall to the extent it did was enough for his eyes to return to their usual keenness, the sounds and smells of the swamp just as soothing. He was back, from wherever he and Tatl had gone, and Link smiled happily to himself at returning to the physical world, now on the wooden platform where he'd played the Sonata of Awakening and risen the temple.

The weight of the corpse returned to him, once again in his arms, and he heard a shrill scream behind him to realize the Deku princess had also done so. She, obviously still recovering from the golden light of the mask, which he reasoned had only been seconds ago for her, stumbled over the platform in the center and scrambled quickly back to her feet, panting as she took in her surroundings.

"We're back in the swamp!" the Deku princess exclaimed, the monkeys beginning to recover from their confusion as well. Link, also noticing something small and wooden clatter onto the surface of the platform, realized this was Odolwa's mask. It now laid there still and empty, as if whatever magical qualities it had possessed were now gone. With this having been observed, he turned to be looking directly at Woodfall Temple, it much darker this late at night, the water of the swamp cool and dark as it didn't have much to reflect. He did, however, notice that it was no longer purple; since this was atop the waterfall, he wagered that all of the swamp had been transfigured back to its original state.

With Tatl just beside him, the fairy had observed this as well, herself deep in thought. When his blue eyes turned to face her and he noticed this, his short-lived smile faded. "What is it?"

"The four people Tael talked about...," Tatl began without turning to face him, Link realizing what it was she was trying to imply when his mind considered the dreamlike state he'd been happy to escape. "Do you think he was talking about the spirit that was sealed inside that mask?" Link didn't answer, contemplating what she said. "I... I think we did it, Link. We found one of the four."

The smile on Link's face began to return as she said this, himself and the fairy turned to face each other happily with this realization. "Then, it was worth it!" Link exclaimed, laughing slightly with relief. "Everything we did."

"Yeah, I think so," Tatl said. "But don't think that means I'm going to apologize; you're still an idiot for diving into the temple and expecting to come back out alive."

"Well, what do you think this means for the other ones?" Link asked, dismissing her sarcasm with a shake of his head. "I guess they're all spirits? Do you think they're trapped inside of masks like that one, waiting to be saved?"

"That would make sense," the fairy reasoned. "You know, as to why they can't help us right now."

"Maybe they've all been trapped by the Skull Kid, inside of some mask capable of what Odolwa was. Maybe... all of the other lands will be cursed like this one was."

Tatl didn't respond to this at first, her countenance grim. "Then we'll have to be extra careful; all of the other ones are probably all just as dangerous as that one."

"At least we have some sort of idea of what we're doing now," Link said, shrugging his shoulders. "Save the four spirits, and then call them with that song on top of the clock tower."

"An oath to order, huh?" Tatl inquired, looking away thoughtfully. "I suppose it would explain everything Tael said."

"_The moon!_"

Tatl was cut short by the Deku princess shrieking behind them once more, and Link and Tatl both turned to look down at the three creatures still returning to themselves on the platform. The princess had her arm raised, her finger directed into the sky, and the blonde-haired boy and fairy both followed it, their eyes instantly widening. The moon appeared to be practically resting on top of the clock tower, its large orbs beaming down at the kingdom beneath it, only hours away from crushing everything. Link and Tatl exchanged dismayed glances, neither one wanting to risk waiting much longer, given the close calls they'd had before. "It's so massive!"

Link, ignoring the Deku princess's second remark, looked intently at his companion. "We have to go to the palace with the princess now," he said urgently, his voice suddenly worried. "We don't have much time."

"But..." The fairy stopped; however, Link already knowing what she was going to say.

"Tatl, please," he said. "As soon as the clock tower falls, I'll play the Song of Time, no matter where we are or what we're doing. We promised, and..."

"All right, fine," Tatl said. "I just want to make sure we have time to go find the witches at the end."

"We will," he said, turning to walk towards the network of wooden bridges that would begin the journey back to the palace.

"Wait!" Link stopped in response to this voice, corpse still in his arms as he turned to face the monkey that had stopped him. "Give us brother." Link looked down at the sad creature, its eyes red and its voice choked with tears, looking feeble without its usually boundless amount of energy.

"I... I said I would bury him for you," Link reminded him, not understanding, but sounding as sympathetic as he could.

"But we must," the monkey said, its voice attempting to remain firm, despite the grief that prevented it from doing so. "We bury him; you save other brother. No time."

Link opened his mouth to argue further, but Tatl got his attention, and the look she gave him made him understand. "Okay," he said, bending down and holding out the small, limp, body. Both brothers were able to remove him from Link's arms, one shuddering, as if just now understanding entirely what had happened. The other monkey looked up to calm him, and then turned back to Link.

"Thank you. For everything." And then the monkeys began walking down the wooden bridges ahead of them, leaving Link, Tatl, and the princess behind as they resolved to make peace with the death that now burdened them.

"That's awful," the princess commented, as the primates continued walking away.

"We can make sure that doesn't happen again if we get to your father in time," Link pointed out, looking down at the scrub whom he didn't think would be able to run very fast.

"You're right!" she exclaimed, turning urgently to face him and lifting up her arms. "Quick, before that poor monkey dies!" Link nodded, turning away momentarily to pick up the mask that had once been known as Odolwa; it was placed in his bag, the wet flap of the bag flopping heavily back over the opening. He then lifted the princess over his shoulder, and both of them, still completely soaked, began to circle the temple along the wooden pathway. Link's boots thudded against the bridge as he sprinted, Tatl flying speedily beside him.

* * *

The king sat darkly in his chair, his orange eyes angrily glaring at the cage the monkey still resided in. The small white creature, all hope drained from its eyes, hung limply from the pole he was tied securely too, looking sadly at the floor. The Deku King, with the bulbous flower still atop his head, let his thick staff continue to lean up against his chair, as he remained clouded by the anger of his missing daughter.

"_Please... sir_..."

"Silence!" the monarch exclaimed angrily, instantly snapping to his left, where the butler was. The tall, thin Deku scrub with the long, green handlebar mustache, was on his knees, the chains wrapped around his wrists padlocked to the floor and preventing him from standing. He looked just as sad as the monkey, turning to the roaring fire still in the center of the room at his master's glare. "You're lucky I don't toss you into the fire with the monkey! Your act of treason makes you just as guilty." The butler, knowing it was useless to argue any further, didn't respond, the chains rattling as he moved slightly to a more comfortable position.

It was at that moment that the entire room began to shake violently, the butler's, king's, guards', and monkey's eyes all widening as the ground vibrated. The earthquake didn't last very long, but they all knew it wasn't the last one, and that the moon might soon render all executions irrelevant. It left them in silence once again, the orange flames the only sound as they crackled with life.

"My king, my king!" The Deku King rose his head slowly towards the entrance to his chambers at this, looking curiously at the guard running in out of breath. "Your princess... she's returned!"

The monarch's eyes instantly widened, jumping from his chair and grabbing his staff as his snout expressed shock. "What?" The butler also stirred, looking up to the doorway as did the monkey. It was only seconds after that a blonde-headed human, appearing just shy of adulthood, ran in with the Deku princess over his shoulder, a familiar fairy accompanying him. He stopped almost as soon as he entered the room, the princess jumping down and running as fast as she could towards her father, who stood in disbelief. The monkey began smiling broadly from his cage as he saw the drenched, hat-less Link returning, the butler expressing just as much confusion as his master.

"Oh, my princess!" the Deku King exclaimed, his snout curling into a smile at the sight of her running towards him. "My darling princess! You are all right? I was so worried!" His smile, however, faded, when he realized that his daughter was not expressing any joy herself; her face was contorted into that of anger, shaking furiously once she came to be just in front of his chair and noticed the butler chained beside him.

"_Foolish father!_" she screamed, the Deku King taken back. She continued to shake madly after this, unable to contain her boiling ferocity; the monarch seemed unsure as to whether or not he should say something. He was soon relieved of the burden of deciding, when his daughter leapt on top of him and began to jump and down and beat him furiously. The Deku King, in all his power, cowered feebly underneath the might of his young daughter, who continued to harass him. The guards in the room began to nervously approach the scuffle, but the Deku princess, having seen them out of the corner of her eye, spun around and stared darkly at all of them. The guards stopped in their tracks, and began to shake nervously themselves as she continued to not break eye contact.

"_What_ are you doing? Let that monkey go this instant!" The guards, at first paralyzed, hastily began scrambling for the cage, the monkey still smiling broadly as they began to open the wooden gate. Link and Tatl, who'd been standing out of place by the door, began to walk towards the other side of the fire, as the Deku princess stopped beating her father and hopped down to release the butler from his chains.

The Deku King, who began to weakly struggle to his feet, noticed the human and fairy approaching him. He, realizing how weak he had appeared in front of these commoners, swiftly grabbed his staff and lifted himself to his feet. "Who are you?" he bellowed, making sure his facade was as stern as he could make it.

"Don't talk to him like that!" the princess screamed, the monarch turning towards his daughter shyly as she continued working with the butler's chains, which came free. "He's the one who saved me!" The butler, thanking the princess, then began to rise to his feet, rubbing his sore wrists.

The Deku King turned back to Link after hearing this, his expression much softer than it had been before. "Is this true?"

Link, taking a moment to respond, took another step forward, now right underneath the platform upon which the king stood in front of his chair. "Yes." He stopped before continuing, however, reaching into his bag to grab something. "But..." He slipped the Deku mask over his face, and became instantly the other form with which he had the ability to take. The monarch's eyes widened, as did the butler's, whose happy face soon turned much grimmer. "_I'm also the Deku scrub from earlier._"

"You... you're the one I almost killed?" the king inquired, with Link nodding. "My humblest apologizes. Hasty decision making is my weakness... This time, more than ever, it has become clear to me."

"_I forgive you_," Link said, his eyes meeting the butler's, who was staring at him sadly. Link turned away, however, still addressing the monarch for the time being. "_Your daughter was missing, and you were willing to do whatever it took to get her back._"

"I wish there was some way for me to express my gratitude," the king stated, looking disappointed as he said it. "Oh, strange traveler, there is little I can do. Please rest a bit before going, and take shelter here from the moon."

"We would," Tatl said before Link could, "but we have somewhere else we need to be before that happens."

"Very well," the Deku King said. "Just remember we have more than enough provisions here for you, should you choose to stay."

Link's hand immediately flew to his stomach after this, hunger returning to him once he realized he hadn't eaten since the witch's shack.

"Thank you," the fairy said, turning to leave, just as the monkey ran forward gleefully to be just in front of Link.

"Mr. Link!" the creature happily exclaimed. The fairy sighed at this, turning around, though still remaining quite a distance away as Link beamed happily back at the monkey. The Deku princess leapt down from the platform to stand before Link, just beside the monkey, whose shoulder she rested her hand on.

"Oh, Mr. Monkey, I am truly sorry," she began, smiling herself. "Father does such rash things when he worries about me."

"I understand, Princess," the monkey reassured her. "Forget about that. Has the temple been returned to normal?"

"Why, yes, thanks to Mr. Link here," the Deku princess said, removing her hand from the monkey's shoulder and turning to face Link. "I am very, truly grateful."

"Yes, me too," the monkey said as he turned towards the blonde Deku scrub as well. "Thank you for keeping your promise to me."

Link nodded in response, recalling what grim news awaited the monkey once he returned to his brothers. When his eyes met the princess's, he realized they were both thinking the same thing, but neither wanted to be the one to tell him. He reasoned that it would be best for him to find out on his own, rather than ruining his temporary joy.

"_I'm glad I could help_," Link reassured them.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay, at least for the rest of the night?" the princess asked. "You're soaked, and I'm sure you're hungry too."

"_No, I'm fine_," Link persisted, ignoring his growling stomach. "_I have too much to do before the night's over._"

"Okay," the princess said, slightly disappointed. "If you ever want to return, know that you'll be welcome here."

Link nodded, Tatl flying down to his side. "Come on, Link!" she whispered. "We have to go."

"_Okay, okay. There's one more thing I have to do, though_." Link brushed the fairy away, turning around to face the Deku butler. The tall Deku scrub was still standing on top of the platform near his monarch, having been staring at Link; he turned away as soon as he made eye contact with him, and Link sighed to himself, walking up the ramp. Tatl looked curiously at what was taking place, flying just beside him as he approached the butler. The butler, who pretended to be looking away, looked down at the Deku scrub who now stood just before him. Their eyes met, and Link looked away before finding the words to say.

"_There's something I want you to have_," Link said, bringing his hands up to his face and removing his Deku scrub mask. He was himself again, as always, and the butler only jumped slightly at what had happened, having seen the transformation just moments ago. He lifted his head to meet the dark blue eyes of the now taller Link, gulping slightly when he then turned to see what was in his hands. Link held the mask, face up, its orange eyes looking up at the butler, its wooden surface frozen.

"When I first came to Clock Town, I was cursed," Link explained, the butler's face hard to read as he listened attentively, still not having said anything. Link found his eyes hard to meet, but tried his best to anyways; everyone else in the room watched, Tatl's eyes going worriedly back and forth between the two. "And I had always thought it was just my own personal Deku scrub form the Skull Kid had turned me into, but I think it was more than just that. I think... somehow... the Skull Kid turned me into your son."

The Deku butler continued to listen, eyes now shining as he stood tall and looked down. Link sighed again before continuing, attempting to rearrange the words he was trying to find in the best way he could. "But I think it goes even further than that. I think, somehow, the Skull Kid had bound me to your son's actual spirit, and that when I played my ocarina to free myself from it, it sealed itself... in this mask.

"When I was first returning to myself, I spoke to a Deku scrub, one who looks exactly as I do when I wear the mask. It was in some sort of dream like state, so I'm not entirely sure how real it was... but he told me I would find his father, and that when I did... he wanted me to tell him that he didn't run away." The butler's eyes immediately lit up at this, and his mouth opened in a small gasp, tears beginning to well in his orange orbs as Link continued.

"He just wanted to see the world, and he'd never meant to leave forever. And... he loves you. He, wanted me to make sure I told you that, too." Link then stopped, the mask still in his hands, himself looking down at it as he waited for the butler to say something, but he didn't. The tall, old Deku scrub merely remained looking down at him, a tear leaving his eye and beginning to trickle down across his face.

"That's why I want you to have my... er... _your_ mask," Link said, correcting himself and looking back up at the butler. "Whether or not there's actually a part of your son in this, it definitely was touched by him, and may be the last link... to him." His blue eyes didn't waver, and, for the first time since he'd been freed, the butler spoke.

"Thank you," he said simply, now smiling slightly as he cried, Link realizing that these were tears of happiness. Link himself began to smile slightly as he raised the mask closer to him, but the butler grabbed his warm hand with his cold one and pushed it gently away. "But I cannot have that." Link seemed confused as he brought the mask back to himself, holding it now by his side as he furrowed his brow. "I need to learn now to let go of my son. He's gone, and if I kept his mask, I don't think I'd ever be able to fully come to terms with that."

Link, thinking this over, then nodded in understanding, looking at the butler who brought his hand up to wipe away a tear. "And now that you've told me what you have, I think I finally can. Thank you. You have no idea how much what you've told me will help; feel free to continue using the mask on your adventures, as I'm sure it'd be more of use to you than it could ever be to me. I'm sorry, if I caused you any measure of discomfort. Please forgive my rudeness."

"You don't have to apologize for anything. I'm... happy someone was able to help you," Link said, looking away as he held up the Deku scrub mask and examined its features once more. Then, he began to walk away, slipping the mask into his bag as all eyes turned to him. Link stopped, however, before he stepped down from the platform, turning to look back at the butler over his shoulder.

"I wasn't sure if I should tell you," Link began, "but I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't. Your son... I think I know where he is. I mean... where his body is." The butler's smile immediately faded at this, his eyes suddenly once again filled with concern. "Inside of the clock tower in Clock Town, at its base, there's a doorway, leading to an underground passage. I saw a Deku scrub there, that looked a lot like your son did. I, didn't think about it until not that long ago, but I'm fairly certain it's him. I just... thought you should know." He paused, as if expecting some sort of response, but when he didn't get one, he turned away and stepped down from the platform. The Deku King, butler, princess, guards, and monkey all watched as Link and Tatl rounded the fire pit and left.

* * *

Link and Tatl stepped out of the Deku Palace and onto the wooden bridge that had once crossed poisonous water. It was now, of course, regular water, Odolwa having been defeated and the spirit freed. The blonde-headed boy and his fairy stopped for moment just outside of the palace, each stopping to think, the Deku guards that had let them exit returning to their flowers.

"I'm glad we did that," Tatl said after a moment's silence.

"What?" Link asked, exiting his train of thought and turning to her.

"That we went back to the palace," the fairy replied. "He really needed that."

"Yeah," Link commented. "I thought about that while running back from the temple; he needed closure with his son, and I'm just glad I was able to provide it."

"Indeed. Now, I believe we have one last piece of business to take care of before we finally leave good ol' Boggy Swamp. I presume you remember the way back to the witches' hut?"

"Of course," Link said, looking up at the dark night time sky, the stars not visible in the slightest. His attention turned towards the moon he could see in the distance; their time was almost up. Upon further examination of the sky, he began to grow an expression of confusion. At first, he'd thought the sky had been littered with clouds, but that wasn't the case; it was only just above the rock wall separating the rest of the swamp from the palace. He wondered why this was, but soon realized it was a plume of smoke, rising up and over the wall, and he began to catch a smell he hadn't before.

"Do you smell... burning?" Tatl asked, the fairy obviously beginning to observe what he was. Link nodded, turning to look at her worriedly. "Come on, let's take the Deku flower up to the ledge, so we'll have a better view on the other side."

Link nodded in agreement, slipping the Deku mask over his face and running across the bridge to the grass ledge on the other side. He then hopped across the water, over to the ledge, and dove into the Deku flower, popping up onto the higher ledge, Tatl by his side the entire time. Link removed his mask and slipped it into his bag, passing through the hole in the rock wall so that he was on the ledge on the other side, which was the beginning of the mushroom-topped trees acting as stepping stones to the temple.

He passed through with his mouth agape, Tatl's in a similar situation, both of them eyes wide at what was across the swamp. It was a fire; the forestry on the other side was ablaze, purple flames consuming the wood and causing the massive quantities of smoke to bellow forth into the air. The flames were at a monstrous height, the fire on level with the one Link had caused not but a day ago. It seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, not a single tree on the line bordering the swamp spared, and he realized how ridiculous the scale of this thing was.

Before either Link or Tatl could examine or even comment on the repercussions of the occurrence, a small figure flew over a rock wall to be far above and just to the side of Link and Tatl, opposite of the pathway leading to the temple. Both of their attentions immediately turned, to behold the Skull Kid. The imp, who'd been flying with a destination in mind, had stopped abruptly when noticing the boy and his fairy.

For a brief moment, no one moved. Link's stomach began to sink, his mind suddenly going blank in pure terror when he realized what was about to happen; his head began to spin, and his legs and arms grew numb, his eyes wide with pure, animal-like fear adorning him as he stared up as prey would its predator. Disbelief and shock rendered him motionless, rooting him to the spot, some force preventing him or his fairy from doing anything. The Skull Kid remained just as still above them, his masked face baring down on them from above, the orange orbs filled with darkness, Majora's Mask still and piercing.

He'd found them. With Link and Tatl not allowed adequate time to process how this was even possible, the Skull Kid smiled widely from behind the mask. Looking at their faces, he realized how dumb, stupid, and clueless they were, how weak and pathetic they would be as he finally struck them down. As much as he'd allowed himself to worry about some power they possessed, that he didn't understand, he now understood that they were just as ignorant. They'd just been lucky, and their luck had just run out.

The Skull Kid drew his arm back, the first movement there had been seen they'd seen each other. Tatl was the first to come to her senses, and she turned swiftly to Link, her face now in panic as she saw his face still frozen in disbelief. "_Link, run!_" Tatl's voice instantly brought him back to himself, shaking his head slightly as his eyes darted from the fairy back to the imp, whose arm had already been thrust forward, a massive amount of violet fire bursting forth and already half way towards him.

Link had no time to think through any sort of strategy, turning to hurl his body in the opposite direction of the fire, Tatl flying up and out of its path herself. Link barrel-rolled forward, the purple fire striking the ledge just where he'd left it, the dark flames continuing to bellow forth from the masked imp's hand in a constant stream. The Skull Kid easily raised his arm to direct the stream of fire where Link was rolling, it catching up to him as Link returned to his feet on the red-mushroom topped tree. Just as the intense heat of the fire had reached his back, Link leapt across the trees red surface up against the rock wall, falling to land on the grass ledge bordering the swamp water. He managed to land on his feet, the impact hurting his knees; regardless, he pressed onward, sprinting along the ledge away from the imp, boating dock, and entrance to the palace.

The Skull Kid ceased his stream of fire once Link was no longer within his view, flying swiftly over the tree and closer to the ground. Link looked over his shoulder as he continued to run, just as the imp appeared over the tree. He turned away and ran faster, panting as his legs allowed him to travel as fast as was possible; the Skull Kid flew faster, though, not hesitating to shoot forth another stream of continuous purple flames, making sure it was long enough to this time come down on top of Link's head.

Link, as soon as the column of purple flames was conjured just above him, realized running forward would leave him dead in the next second. He then tossed himself over the grass ledge and into the swamp water, kicking to sink himself further into its depths as the fire exploded into the ground he'd just been on. Link, as he began to swim away without giving himself a moment's rest, was already struggling for air, having been out of breath in the first place when he'd dove into the water.

He wasn't given any time to act upon this matter, though, for soon he felt the water around him beginning to cling to him as a fist would, and he realized he was being lifted into the air. The Skull Kid, with his hands outstretched and his fingers manipulating the water, rose Link out of the rest of the swamp, still trapped in his thin human-shaped bubble of water. Link, still not quite understanding what was happening, was helpless as the Skull Kid rose him high into the air.

The imp then flung his arms violently to the left, sending Link flying into the rock wall. The bubble of water came apart, and Link plummeted down towards the ledge he'd just leapt off of, the painful impact of the rock wall rendering him dazed, the water that had been surrounding him falling with him.

Tatl gasped as Link landed from several feet above onto the hard, grass ledge painfully, all of the breath knocked out of him and every bone in his body screaming in agony. The Skull Kid then flew slowly to be just above the water, looking down at him as he lay on the ledge. Link struggled to move, but found this task far too difficult, and therefore, laying on his back, was only able to look over to his side helplessly. The imp was already preparing to draw his arm back a final time when Link did this, and his dark blue eyes shone fearfully as a ball of purple fire began to encase the Skull Kid's arm, ready to be flung at him.

It was then that something caught the masked imp's attention; with the aid of his peripheral vision, he was able to notice a ball of bright, orange fire hurtling towards his turned back. The Skull Kid spun around and, just in time, released the purple fire that had been intended for Link to meet the orange; the flames collided in midair and dissipated, leaving only the darkness of night illuminated by the raging forest fire. The imp searched intently for its source, sweeping the flaming treeline just as he heard something else whistling in the air towards him, this time coming from the swamp water. He narrowly dodged five, thick, sharp icicles that had flown up from the water's surface at him, their points disappearing behind back into the water, their target missed.

The Skull Kid then abruptly turned to see someone floating above the water as he was. It was Kotake, the old woman riding her broom stick, one arm gripping its handle as the other just finished manipulating the ice. The blue gem on her forehead went dark as this spell was completed, her white hair still standing tall and her expression that of rage. The imp opened his mouth to say something, when he heard someone move on the other side of him. The Skull Kid turned, while making sure to remain guarded on the side where Kotake was, to see an identical twin on a similar broomstick. Her gem was orange, but Koume's expression matched that of her sister's.

The imp's face began to grow to that of concern, Majora's Mask hiding this and continuing to look at its opponents threateningly. Koume and Kotake were on either side of him, each flying and each furious.

"You've burned our forest!" Kotake shrieked, her eyes wide. "Or what was left of it... and you almost killed us!"

"What's the meaning of this?" Koume demanded, the Skull Kid's head going back and forth between the two of them. "Or is there not one, and you've abused whatever power you've found, like the immature, childish scum you are?"

The imp glared at her as soon as she said this. "I am not a child!" he exclaimed, his voice beginning to darken. Koume, initially frightened by the voice he'd commanded, quickly hid the fear before he could notice. Everything the boy and his fairy had said, regarding the mask's nature, began to return to her, but she couldn't afford to think that way and dismissed these thoughts.

"Yet you act like one," Koume said, forcing herself to return his glare.

"If you are not a child, then prove it," Kotake said. "Remove that mask, and surrender it. Whatever abilities it has bestowed upon you are obviously too much for you to handle."

The Skull Kid didn't say anything, continuing to float in place, the forest fire all the noise necessary to break the silence. His eyes darted to Link, without daring to move his head to give this away. The boy had gotten to his feet and was panting, one hand against the rock wall as he leaned over in exhaustion, looking up at the events taking place worriedly, the fairy just by his side.

It was then that the ground shook again, due to yet another earthquake. Link stumbled off of the wall he'd been leaning on and almost fell into the water, finding his balance before this happened, and he quickly looked back up to see how this had affected the confrontation occurring above the swamp water.

The Skull Kid, as soon as this had happened, released a large ball of fire in the direction of Kotake, who'd been prepared for this. The witch flung both of her arms into the air, a large, thick shield of ice shooting out of the water and absorbing the impact of the flames. As soon as the imp had turned to do this, Koume had released her own retaliation, the Skull Kid barely able to fly out of the path of the orange fire ball meant for him.

Link's eyes watched in amazement, the orange fire ball landing just in front of him into the swamp water, its flames curling up and disappearing. "What do we do?" Tatl asked, as the battle between the three magicians commenced, the fairy hardly daring to turn and face Link.

"Maybe... we should wait," Link said. "What if Koume and Kotake win?"

"What if they don't?" Tatl pointed out, both of them watching the combat taking place above them grimly.

The Skull Kid, in the process of spiraling out of the path of Koume's fire, brought up with his spin another wave of dark fire, Koume countering this with another burst of her own that went further to attempt to strike the imp. As she did this, the Skull Kid flung his arms into the air, causing a massive wave of swamp water to rise from its resting place, it beginning to swirl around him a great ball, which absorbed the impact of the fire and continued to foam and swish gracefully around him. He then allowed the water to form a thick tentacle, which escaped from the ball and whipped itself towards Koume.

The witch's orange gem glowed brightly as she created a tentacle of her own made of fire, the two clashing in the air just as the ball of water began to slow. The imp, not understanding why this was happening, noticed that the sphere of fluid he'd created was beginning to expand and freeze. As soon as his mind reached a reasonable conclusion, he thrust his arms out and released a massive burst of fire, which destroyed the ice and water surrounding him, that had begun to form sharp spears without his command.

Immediately following his new found freedom, his tentacle made half of ice and water returning to the swamp, the one made of fire was lashing towards him. The Skull Kid's eyes widened in shock as he brought up his hands to defend himself, the water and ice falling away from him once again under his control and meeting the fire just before it reached him. The imp, immediately flinging the water away from himself now that the arm of fire had been extinguished, turned to see Kotake, wondering why she'd allowed him to manipulate the water.

He discovered it was because she'd been in the process of creating another spell for him, several sharp, thick arrows of ice already halfway towards him. The Skull Kid conjured enough fire to disintegrate some of them, flying out of the way of others; however, one cut through his arm and another stuck into his shoulder. The imp bared his teeth angrily at the pain resulting, noticing that Kotake hadn't stopped there and was causing the ice that had lodged itself into his shoulder to expand. The imp screamed as he gripped the end of the expanding ice arrow, retracting it when his fingers met a painfully sharp surface.

Orange fire was once again hurtling towards him, its heat intense as he remained floating in the air. He responded by holding up his arms and causing his entire body to glow with purple flames, causing the ice arrow to melt and allowing him to fire some at Koume's spell. It wasn't able to combat all of it, however, and the masked imp went spiraling towards the swamp water. Upon crashing through its surface, it began to harden and cool around him, the Skull Kid's eyes widening as he realized what was happening.

He let loose another explosion of fire to destroy the ice and part the water, rising out of the swamp and screaming in rage. This was short-lived, however, as long, spikes of ice began to rise from the swamp's surface underneath to pierce him. The Skull Kid flew back away from them just as they shot up passed him, the imp forcing his back against the rock wall, which was above the grass ledge rather than water. He looked to the side to see Link and Tatl down and away from him on the edge, Link with ocarina in hand, ready to play should a situation deem it necessary. Angry at this observation, the Skull Kid sent forth more dark fire in their direction; however, Kotake easily countered this when she conjured a shield of ice between them, the water of the swamp her ammunition. The flames bellowed across its surface, safely protected Link and Tatl, while at the same time the ice wall formed pointed tips and begin to travel towards the attacker.

The Skull Kid responded by flinging his arm that was against the rock wall away from it, sending a chunk of earth forward that shattered the shield of ice. With this same stroke of the arm, he'd taken more chunks of the rock wall with him, flying out of the way of more fire from Koume intended to keep him away from the boy and fairy. It worked, the two witches now in between the imp's target; the Skull Kid was not disheartened, however, massive chunks of rock now surrounding him in a circular orbit.

Koume and Kotake watched worriedly as the rocks surrounding him began to compact and form two massive ones, the fire and ice sorcerers beginning to bombard him as he did this. The ice underneath him was easily blocked by one of the two boulders flying in its path, the fire similarly. The imp now smiled wickedly from behind his mask, beginning to map out the next several moves in his head, with the earth now giving him a chance to think. Koume and Kotake desperately attempted to deprive him of this luxury, Koume now sending a continuous, thick stream of fire into the rock in between herself and the imp.

This forced the Skull Kid into one spot, and while the fire witch did this, Kotake began to harden a massive platform of ice underneath the masked imp, sending it flying up at its target as soon as it was created, the surface spiked. To what would soon be both of the witches' dismay, this had been exactly what he was waiting for.

The platform of ice approaching the Skull Kid from underneath was met by a huge burst of dark fire, shattering instantly. The same burst of purple flames had also been released against the rock shielding himself from Koume's spell; the pressure created behind the rock sent it hurtling directly through the flames pouring from Koume's hand. The witch gasped, but had no time to move. The boulder slammed directly into her, crushing her as well as knocking her off of her broom. Koume fell heavily, with the breath knocked out of her, as the heavy boulder continued flying away.

Kotake, who'd been just beside her, turned alertly to the Skull Kid who'd sent the other boulder flying in her direction. She managed to avoid it, but waiting on the other side of it was not safety. The Skull Kid had brought his fingers together and begun to swish his arms around himself in circles, generating his next attack, which was ready as soon as the ice witch flew out from behind the boulder.

The purple lightning left his fingertips, its precision deadly and instantaneous. It struck Kotake directly in the chest, sending the witch spiraling through the air limply, crashing down into the water seconds after her sister did.

The Skull Kid, as soon as this was accomplished, smiled darkly, floating in the air undefeated as he watched his victims fall. He continued to approach them slowly, as if to make sure they were dead, unable to make out the condition of their distant shapes from up high. However, a light went off in his head, and he instantly snapped to where he knew Link and Tatl were. The fairy was resting on her companion's shoulder, who had his ocarina against mouth, his fingers melodically plugging the holes as he blew into the instrument.

The masked imp gasped as soon as he noticed this, quickly conjuring as much fire as he could and sending it in their direction. Link and Tatl vanished seconds before it reached them, suddenly gone; the purple fire passed just over where they had been and crashed into the rock wall, spreading out over its dark surface and vanishing.

The Skull Kid flew quickly to where they'd been as the fire cleared, his eyes filled with that of horror when he realized there was nothing there. "No...," he stammered. "No, no..." He grabbed his head and turned around, looking at the dark water reflecting the intense glow of the forest fire still raging. He then flung his arms into the air and screamed madly, the voice of Majora powering his vocal cords as he released this anguish.

The masked imp, after this had been accomplished, turned quickly to see one of the witches climbing out of the water weakly, her long, white hair damp and hanging over her shoulders and face as she did so. She began coughing up huge spurts of water, turning to look up at the Skull Kid as she collapsed in exhaustion on the surface of the grass. Koume's eyes met the masks, and she began to tremble in fear at the rage etched across its surface.

Just as the Skull Kid raised his arms to kill her, he vanished. The witch, not understanding, the orange gem in her head dull, stared in confusion at the spot where he'd been. She half-expected him to return, but he didn't, Koume looking around to see no one but herself as she lay down panting. The glow of the purple forest fire continued just above her, herself on the opposite bank of the one Link and Tatl and inhabited.

She rolled over onto her back as if to behold the fire's might before flopping back onto her stomach. Koume then buried her face into the grass, beginning to sob as her body throbbed miserably with pain. She had no idea how many bones were broken, and didn't want to know what her chances of survival were.

Some time later, she heard water swish up onto the surface she rested on, and Koume looked up to see that some dark mass had drifted its way over to her ledge. She scooted herself closer to examine it, peering over into the water to recognize the shape as her sister. "_Kotake!_" she exclaimed. The witch quickly grabbed the shoulders of her sister and lifted her out of the water, sending waves of it up onto the ledge with her.

Koume rose to her knees as best as she could, rolling her sister over onto her back as soon as she was hoisted out of the water. "Kotake... Kotake...," Koume began, shaking her sister and noticing her pale, still expression. Her eyes were halfway open, water dripping from underneath the lids and making it appear as if she was crying. The ice witch's mouth was half agape, Koume peering in to see water filling her throat. She quickly began to press down on her chest repeatedly, looking over at her sister to see no change.

"_Kotake... Come on..._," she whispered, her voice only a ghost, the whisper dying almost as soon as it left her lips. There was no response, however, and Koume's eyes began to well as she shook her head, her long crooked nose now lined with tears. Soon she stopped, Koume removing her hands from her sister's chest to notice a deep scorch mark, the flesh on top and within burnt. She stared at the injury in disbelief, beginning to shake now as the tears came forth.

Koume then flung herself on top of her sister's corpse, shaking now as she continued to cry, Kotake unresponsive and motionless underneath her, her head still lolled to the side as she stared at nothing. "_No!... No... Kotake... Come back..._" She gripped her sister's shoulders and shook them, but nothing happened, her head limply shaking back and forth.

Koume then looked up into the sky with her tear streaked face, directly at the moon hovering over Clock Town, the forest fire burning in her peripheral. "_No... They... they were right..._" She then looked down, shaking as she buried her face in the chest of her dead sister's. "_They were right!_"

Koume flung her head back up into the sky once more, staring intently at the moon with wide eyes, it only an hour or so away from ending everything. "_Majora's back! It's back, it's back! The gods can't help us anymore; it's back!_" Her shrieks echoed darkly against the walls bordering the swamp, the water still as the cry went unheard, her ability to speak now gone entirely.

Koume then slowly brought her head down, resting it on her sister's chest as she curled up to lay just beside her, the clock tower's bells echoing across the land.


	21. Stained Tabula Rasa, Part 1

__Note: I've returned; again. I aspire to not fade in and out for months at a time anymore, and am publishing this even though the second part isn't done yet. I plan to have it finished soon, however, and afterwards plan on rereading the story all the way from the beginning, so as to edit and revise, as well as remove all miscellaneous author's notes that are no longer relevant. Rest assured, the third part, which is the one I've been most looking forward to, will eventually be written.

* * *

_Chapter 21: Stained Tabula Rasa, Part 1_

The Skull Kid released his dark magic, but the instant he did, light was suddenly all around him. The masked imp gasped, shielding his eyes and stumbling backward through the air. The waves of purple fire left his now retracted hands to hit the blank, grass ledge. He brought them down as his eyes adjusted, blinking heavily, looking around completely dazed, his mind shocked.

He was still in the same place, just above the swamp where moments ago he'd been combating Kotake and Koume. Except, now it had suddenly become daylight; the sky had just awoken from a night time slumber, it a vibrant orange, the sun just barely glaring over the horizon. As this was noted, so was the absence of the moon; it was no longer resting upon the top of the clock tower. It took the imp a moment to find it much further off into the sky, still baring down on Termina but now days away.

The Skull Kid brought his head down slowly from the sky as his pupils narrowed, looking to see that the treeline he was facing was no longer ablaze. The trees were each standing tall and healthy, as if nothing had ever happened to defile them, the plume of smoke that had been infecting the air gone. He then faced the ledge where he'd intended to strike Koume to find that she was not there; in the same glance, it was discovered the swamp water itself had changed. It had reverted back to its thick, violet colored self, once again poisoned and threatening to burn those who entered it.

The masked imp stared into the murky purple waters for a few moments as realization struck him. He spun around quickly, as if expecting to see the blonde child and fairy on the opposite ledge, having joined him in returning to the first day. That ledge, however, was just as void of life, and the Skull Kid was thrown off by this for only a moment. He recalled the first time he'd witnessed them escape him with the ocarina; they'd been falling through midair at the time. If the song had sent them through time only to appear exactly where they'd been three days earlier, they would have plummeted to their doom even in the safety of daylight.

_Does the song also send them back to the doors of the clock tower?_

The answer had to be yes; he reasoned they were probably stumbling out of the doors now, thinking themselves safe and with another seventy-two hours to spare. He realized then that rules had to apply differently to himself, and wasn't sure if it was an advantage or a disadvantage that he remained in the same physical location after time traveling.

Turning to look back at the purple water refusing to reflect his image, the implications of this return to the first day began to hit him. All of the time he'd spent burning the forest had been wasted, and the witches would be once again alive and at their hut. It would take another painstakingly long three days for the final step of his plan to near completion, and that blasted fairy and her friend would retain all of the experience and knowledge they had from the previous loops.

He wondered where they would head next, and what else they would manage to accomplish, if they'd freed the swamp of its curse just before their time had been up. He'd seen the water cleared and purified, and wasn't sure as to whether or not time travel had reversed all of the effects of that. True, the water had returned to its poisonous state, but he wasn't sure if the spirit was sealed again in Odolwa's mask.

The Skull Kid began to panic slightly as he thought of the temples in Ikana Canyon, Snowhead, and Great Bay... _Great Bay_. Instantly, his eyes widened with terror at the thought of the pirates and eggs he'd destroyed.

"No...," he mouthed, and then the masked imp turned to the west abruptly, beginning to fly over the forest, eyes intent on his destination, narrowed into thin slits of rage.

* * *

The townsfolk in the main plaza of South Clock Town, where the clock tower was located, looked curiously at the set of doors with oddly shaped, colorful designs covering it. The doors had opened, and out stepped a young, blonde headed teen, completely drenched and embodying every aspect of the word exhausted. The bag slung over his shoulders, sword and shield clad on his back, and green tunic adorning him were all equally wet, dripping water down onto the solid ground. A blue clay ocarina was clutched tightly in his left hand, a small, white fairy accompanying him just at his side. They stepped in both appearing stunned, in complete shock, not as a result of beholding Clock Town, but as if some thought or memory was haunting them both, rendering them incapable of speech.

Link, as soon as he appeared in the plaza, merely stood there, staring off at the busy townspeople but not really seeing them, mouth slightly agape. His blue eyes shone brightly, despite their inability to focus, and Tatl, after taking a moment to become aware of her surroundings, flew off of his shoulder and turned to face him. All she saw was his blank stare, earning him several odd glances from the townsfolk passing. The fairy paid no attention to them, though, flying down to be just beside her companion.

"Link?" she inquired. She didn't receive a response at first, it taking some time before he finally shook his head, not tearing his eyes from whatever thought held them. Tatl sighed, turning away before finally thinking of something to add. "It's... not over."

"What do you mean?" Link asked, turning to face her, his face still distressed.

"I mean," Tatl began uncertainly, not sure if she had taken the right approach, and unable to continue.

"He wasn't supposed to be there," he added, shaking his head as he turned away from Tatl and looked up into the sky. "He was supposed to be underneath the moon, on the clock tower, and... he wasn't supposed to _know_... about us. And he... he killed them." Link then stared at the ocarina in his hand and once again noted the black mark. His mind went back to the conversation he and Tatl had had in the temple and its implications. "There's something we don't know about him." Tatl looked down gravely at Link as he said this, himself still staring at his instrument sadly.

"At least, we have a plan," Tatl finally said after quite a while. "You... said you wanted to go to the mountains next, right? Maybe we'll find more out about the Skull Kid there; remember how I said he goes there whenever he's weak?"

Something Tatl said, however, made Link's head bolt up to the southern gate. "_The swamp!_" he exclaimed. Link began to run from his spot towards the gate, intent on the Clock Town exit positioned just ahead. He had only traveled half away across the plaza when his legs could carry him no longer; he tried to regain his balance, but there was no strength. Link collapsed onto the floor, and his ocarina slid out of his hand just in front of him.

Tatl flew quickly to his side, her eyes wide in confusion. "What's wrong with you?" Tatl asked.

"I...," Link stammered, out of breath and merely lying there and panting as he looked up at the ocarina just in front of him. "What if the swamp's cursed again? What if the spirit's sealed away and the water's poisoned?"

"Well, you can't go running down there again!" Tatl exclaimed, noticing how distraught her companion was. "It was almost an entire day's journey the first time, and you're not in any condition to go anywhere anyways. You should rest for a little bit before we go anywhere else..."

"No," Link said immediately. "I have to know... if the swamp's still saved."

The fairy now looked at him in concern, also noting all of the villagers who had begun to group around them, stopping as they stared and whispered to one another. She realized something had to happen, before they drew too much public attention to themselves. "Look, Link, I'll go and fly down to the swamp; it'll be a lot quicker. While I'm gone, you can stay at the inn... and rest."

Link thought about this for a moment, still lying on the ground dazed. "But last time I stole someone else's reservation," he pointed out, not really caring but unable to find any other counterargument.

"It'll be okay!" Tatl urged. "Just take the room and the two hundred rupees again; you'll need it more than whoever else reserved it."

"Excuse me," declared a powerful voice from amidst the crowd. A guard stepped forward to be just in front of the fairy and boy, tall spear in hand and armor shining. "Is there a problem?"

"Not at all!" Tatl said quickly, flying down to tug on Link's shoulder. "We were just... on... our... way..." Link, after a moment of stubbornness, began to slowly get to his feet, standing up and blinking as if still not completely aware of his surroundings.

"Is your friend all right?" the guard ask, his stoic expression giving way to concern for the obviously distressed youth.

"He's fine," Tatl reassured him, as she began to pull Link away towards East Clock Town. "We just had a rough journey getting here."

Link stumbled away sluggishly, Tatl egging him on despite his resistance. "Hey, wait!" The fairy turned around in response to the guard's voice, and saw him holding up the ocarina. "You forgot your instrument."

"Oh!" Tatl exclaimed, flying quickly to grab it. "Thank you; I don't know what we would have done without this." She returned it to Link, who looked at it blankly in his hands. "What the Din is wrong with you? You almost left the ocarina in the square!"

"It doesn't work anyways," Link said bluntly. "I think the Skull Kid knows."

"Don't be silly. He just..."

"Killed Koume and Kotake, and almost killed us," Link finished.

The fairy uneasily and uncertainly found a response. "Well... we don't know if they died..."

"Does it matter?" Link said, turning to face her. "They were our only hope; you said so over and over again. Our plan was to find them and take them back in time with us... but they couldn't even fight him! He took them both down, and whether one of them died, or both of them, they still lost. How can we expect to fight him when all we have is this stupid ocarina, that he's already cursed? Look at it! I have one on my chest to match it!"

"Link, let's just work things out one step at a time," Tatl said. "I know how hopeless things look right now, but you need some rest. You're not thinking straight. Let's just go to the inn..."

"What does any of it matter anyways?" Link asked. "If we can't fight him? We can save the individual lands as much as we want over and over again! That's not going to change the fact that he's some how flying around and capable of wiping us out with the swipe of his arm."

"Look, I already knew all of that! Let's stop talking about it, and worry about what we _can_ do right now."

"But you don't get what I'm saying..."

"Yes, I do," Tatl said, turning to be directly in front of him, and noting that the crowd that had been surrounding the spot they were in earlier had disbanded. "You're afraid that everything we've done just went to waste, after playing the song. Especially since the imp completely ruined our plan with the witches. But open your bag."

Link, at first hesitating, did so, and saw immediately what she was referring to. He pulled out Odolwa's mask, and held it up in front of him. It was still lifeless, and therefore a reminder that he had in fact defeated it. "I'll go back down to the swamp to confirm it," Tatl said, "but I think the swamp is still purified. Now let's go and get your room, before you pass out in the streets."

* * *

Link stepped into the familiarly furnished building, the front desk exactly where he had remembered. They'd had to wait until eight o'clock before they'd finally been able to enter, but now that he had, a sense of home returned to him. Given his memory lapse regarding events just before the Skull Kid robbing him, and the amount of time he'd been in Termina, he'd grown fond of this place. Seeing Anju's recognizable face was warming to him; he'd spent his first two three day cycles here, and Anju had been one of the first people he'd become acquainted with and had helped him. The feeling of warmth left him, however, when she looked up at him as one would a stranger.

"Welcome to the Stock Pot Inn," she greeted pleasantly. Link didn't respond, however, caught in some sort of trance as he stared at her from across the room. Anju's face turned slowly into that of alarm when he didn't break his stare, and she noted his condition. His clothes were drenched, his arms and legs were swollen and red, one of his boots had a massive hole in it, and he appeared completely exhausted all together.

Link, meanwhile, remembered several things at once. He remembered the last cycle in which he'd entered the inn and the conversation they'd had about Hyrule; she'd appeared clueless, regardless of how far he pressed the matter. Furthermore, he remembered his dream, and his realization of what it meant in the Woods of Mystery. He'd been in Hyrule and visited Anju to console her regarding the death of Kafei, and had then understood that this was a memory. With this came the countless other memories of his days spent between himself, her, and Zelda. There she was, one of his best friends, Link uncertain as to whether or not this was actually her, or some mirror image of the same person of another world.

"... Can I help you?" Anju stammered, now fearing for her own safety, given the moment of silence that had ensued. Tatl had turned to look at Link, concerned as to why he was staring at the innkeeper.

"Yes...," the fairy said uncertainly, turning away from him and flying up to the counter. "We have a reservation."

The innkeeper at first merely glanced at Tatl, her eyes instantly darting back to the blonde-headed boy in the green tunic staring at her. She soon pried her eyes from him, however, and turned to the fairy who was obviously in a much better condition. "Um... okay," Anju said, shaking her head. "Name, please?"

Tatl opened her mouth to answer, but realized she wasn't sure, turning to face Link, who still stood at the door across the room. "Hey, snap out of it!" the fairy exclaimed, Link finally turning away from Anju. "What's the name under?"

"Um...," Link stammered, taking a moment to come to before walking up to stand at the desk beside the fairy, Anju weary. "It's under Ink."

"Ink, huh?" she said, turning down to her book with one eye brow raised condescendingly.

"Yes," he said. "That's my name. Link... Ink."

Anju scoffed at this, Tatl turning towards him with a glare in response to his stupidity.

"Well, Mr. Link Ink," Anju began, obtaining a key, "I'm not entirely sure what happened to you, but there are plenty of people I would recommend to treat your... uh... multiple... gashes and... burns... and rashes, or... bug bites, I'm not sure..."

"I think...," Link began, still appearing quite distant, "that what I need right now is sleep."

"Okay then," Anju replied. "I have you down for an afternoon arrival, but I can guess you can check in a few hours early. Your room is our "Knife Chamber" on the second floor. Here is your key."

Link took it without saying anything, so it was the fairy who sighed and thanked her. "Come on, Link," Tatl said, flying towards the staircase. Link took only a step before turning back to face Anju, who'd been looking after him curiously.

"I'm sorry, about that," Link said, sounding extremely distraught. "I just... you reminded of someone I know, and miss, a lot. You look exactly like her." Anju didn't respond, the skepticism and annoyance in her expression now fading. Link eventually turned around and walked up the staircase before she ever responded.

Link was soon opening the door to his familiar room, the fairy flying in excitedly behind him. "Finally!" she exclaimed, lying on one of the two beds and sighing with relief. Link plodded into the room behind her, throwing his sword, shield, and scabbard off before collapsing onto the bed on his back and staring up at the roof, his eyes already beginning to slowly close. Before falling asleep, he pulled the bottle out of his bag and drank what little remaining water was left, his head ache slightly abated. He then tossed the bottle and bag to the floor and turned over onto his side, not bothering to get under the covers or even remove his boots.

Tatl looked over from her bad solemnly, not sure how long it would take him to recover. "I'm going to rest too before I go to the swamp... if that's okay with you."

"Okay," Link stated simply. Tatl didn't say anything further, and turned over, herself deep in thought, mostly over the boy across the room from her who'd seemed to have lost all hope.

* * *

"It's so pretty out here," Zelda said, her eyes still taking in the beautiful, clear blue sky. It was around noon, and since it was during the warm season, the sun beat down intensely, warming her skin as she lay down in the grass. Link was just beside her, both in their loose, comfortable villager clothes; they were lying side by side, both staring up into the sky, the gorgeous day surrounding them. They were in the middle of the gated area of Lon Lon Ranch, many of the horses out and about in the beauty of the day, either running around or resting in the shade that the small pavilion on the opposite end offered. "I don't ever want these days to end."

"Me neither," Link agreed, smiling slightly at the thought. He turned his head to look at the princess beside him, her long blonde hair spread out along the grass, her blue eyes turning to meet his. They stared at one another for a moment, each smiling slightly at the other now drawn close. Though Link's expression of happiness faded slightly, turning back to look up at the sky, Zelda now concerned.

"You're... happy, right?"

"Of course, Zelda," Link said, immediately turning to her and seeming shocked that she'd even said that. "I'm in love with you, and this place. Hyrule is my home, and it always will be."

Zelda smiled at this, completely reassured. She brought her hand down to hold his and turned back to look at the sky, still smiling broadly, their fingers locked together as their arms rested against one another.

Link's smile, however, faded again, as thoughts of Navi, the first of their kind, began to present themselves.

* * *

Link opened his eyes. They found the blank wall of his hotel room, it shrouded in darkness. The brilliant Hyrulian sun, the lush Lon Lon Ranch, and Zelda were all gone. He was left in the darkness of the Knife Chamber, his fireplace cold and empty and the sunlight that had poured in through the curtained window gone. He, after a moment of laying there, turned over to see Tatl's bed empty. She'd presumably kept her promise, and was on her way to the swamp.

He sighed when he realized he shouldn't have made her do that, realizing the journey was long and unnecessary. Link supposed the swamp either was or wasn't still saved; it didn't make a difference either way. He sat up in his bed as multiple feelings begin to plague him. The first of these was hunger, his stomach lurching painfully; this was quickly followed by the return of his headache. Now that he'd rested, all of the adrenaline ebbing, his untreated injuries began to flare in pain. The moth bites lining his legs and feet were very irritable, the pain in his slightly burnt right hand and foot was acute, and the black scar on his chest felt like a heavy bruise. A general sense of fatigue had still not left him, his arms and legs sore from the inside as much as they were the out.

Link sighed at all of this, closing his eyes in concentration for a moment before slipping out of his bed and walking out the door. He continued down the staircase, looking into the lobby to see Anju not behind the desk; he heard her, however, in a room along the hallway behind the desk. Link went around to be just in front of the kitchen's doorway, to see the innkeeper scooping some thick substance from the pot on the stove into a small bowl. She turned as soon as he entered the room, ladle upside down over the bowl, waiting for him to say something.

"Hi," Link said.

"Can I help you?" she asked, not wavering her eyes.

"Yes, actually," Link began, taking another booted step into the tiled room. The kitchen was small and simple, a counter against each wall housing multiple cooking utensils, Anju at the one on his right. "I was wondering if I could pay you for some of your food." She raised an eyebrow at this, wondering if he knew that they didn't actually serve food, the kitchen only there since it also served as her and her family's living quarters. Link, detecting her skepticism, added more. "I'm not sure how long I was asleep, but it looks pretty late, so I didn't think any of the stalls would be open. I have money, it's just..."

"It's only seven," she answered, smiling momentarily as she turned back to her pot and began to continue filling the bowl. "And besides, the bar is just next door and is open all night."

"Oh," Link said simply, the smell of the thick soup having caused his stomach to churn even more painfully. He stopping himself from leaving the room when he saw Anju smile slightly again and shake her head.

"But you can have some soup. I made a little too much for me and my grandmother, so it would have gone to waste anyways."

"Are you sure?" Link asked, his face brightening. "I can pay; I don't want to..."

"It's fine," Anju said, giving him a weak smile that didn't last as she began to fill a second bowl. "You seemed pretty distraught when you came in here earlier today, so I'm sure you need it." Link went up to the counter as she said this, Anju noting how tired his blue eyes were as they stared down. "Is there an exciting story behind arriving here?" she asked, breaking an awkward silence.

Link wasn't quite sure how to answer this question, realizing the truth would involve time travel, dark magic, and Hyrule. The first image that flashed across his mind was Kotake spinning through the air limply, the Skull Kid's arm still thrust forward as lightning pulsated from his fingertips. He'd been standing on the ledge, petrified, with his fairy by his side, his heart beating madly in his chest and his legs shaking, thinking the imp would spin around in the next instant and end his life as well. Link's mind numbed once more at this image, suddenly fearful that the Skull Kid would burst through the window at that moment, defying the time loop and bearing at him with Majora's Mask...

"I'm sorry," Anju said, shaking her head as she finished filling his bowl. This broke Link's train of thought, and he realized he'd been staring at the floor. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's fine," Link said, taking the bowl into both of his hands and trying his best not to be overtaken by the mouth-watering fumes bellowing up into his nostrils. "It just wasn't all that pleasant of a journey. Thank you for the soup." His feigned smile wasn't all that convincing, but neither was the one Anju returned, and the boy in the dirty green tunic walked out of the kitchen, allowing both of them to return to their own musings.

* * *

He flew swiftly, the rain stinging the cold surface of the mask as he traveled underneath the cloudy sky, the early morning sun invisible. His mind was blank and determined, gliding alongside the coastline, the waves rolling up and down atop the sandy shore beside him. His stomach sank as soon as he saw the tall fortress wall, it running between the passage two cliffs opposite one another formed. He could hear his heart thumping in his chest as he lifted into the air once more, his feet hanging limply as he rose to land on top of the massive barrier. He practically held his breath, until his eyesight finally revealed to him what was on the other side.

It only took a quick scan of the lake over the wall for the Skull Kid to realize all of his work had been wasted. There was the single watch boat out, circling its perimeter, the dark-skinned, red headed lady with the spear sitting in her vessel watchfully. Suddenly, uncontrollable rage took hold of him; his pupils began to dilate madly from behind the mask. Purple fire began to envelope his hands before he'd even moved.

The pirate, somewhat bored despite the beginning hours of her shift, looked up when she suddenly saw what she took to be fire out of the corner of her eyes. She turned, but would have never been able to do anything to prevent what came next. She was eradicated within seconds, nothing left of her and her boat as the Skull Kid screamed, releasing hordes and waves of dark magic over the spot where she had been unable to scream.

Where, in the cycle before, he'd gone about his mass slaughter playfully, he was now enraged and ferocious. There was no distinct goal in the masked imp's mind as he scaled the fortress wall's and began to lay waste to all, as he had in the reality before; the only things he could picture in his mind as he killed hundreds were the faces of those who'd caused him to unleash this fury. As he watched the pirates suffer, scream, and beg for their lives, he remembered the blonde boy and fairy with their ocarina, cowered up against the wall and escaping at the last moment like the feeble insects they were. As he let out his anger in waves of fire and bolts of lightning, and allowed the shrieks of his victims to ring in his ears, he reassured himself that his anger would not run out before it could be directed towards whom it was intended, and that this would be done before he set out to do anything else.

_I will find them. And I will kill them._

* * *

"I can offer you a new one instead."

"I don't want a new one," Link persisted. "Look, I have plenty of rupees to cover it, but if you can't remove the mark from _this_ one, there's no deal."

"Take your business somewhere else then," the shopkeeper sighed. "That's not a small mark, and it's a cheap old thing, so you might as well buy a new one."

"Thanks a lot," Link said dryly, walking away from the wooden stall, putting his ocarina back into his pocket. The countless other ocarinas hanging from the roof and posts of the stall clung back and forth behind him, each shiny and new, immaculate in comparison to his. Link, in the East Clock Town plaza, looked up into the sky to see that he had almost burnt half the day away; the sun was barely visible from behind the heavily clouded sky, positioned in the center. The rain had come to a stop for the time being, the ground itself having collected water. His new shoes were now responsible from preventing his feet from being soaked, the rest of his attire recently purchased as well. The villager clothes he now wore didn't stand out nearly as much, though the fact that he hadn't been able to get them tailored had rendered him an outfit that fit very loosely. Nonetheless, it served it's purpose; it had pockets to hold his ocarina and rupees, while his sword, shield, bag, and masks remained in the hotel room, his tunic and hat being washed and repaired at one of the venders in South Clock Town.

The swelling on his arms and legs had gone down with the purchasing of the proper ointment earlier in the day; at first having been weary of the vender who'd sold it, he was glad he had trusted her, the bites now almost completely healed. He'd managed to wash and properly feed himself as well, and felt like an entirely new person all together, physically, at least. Link was still slightly disoriented from the drama of the loop before, on top of himself being worried about the fact that Tatl had yet to return. He'd resolved to go looking for her if the third day came and she still hadn't; he refused to leave her behind.

Link, in the meanwhile, walked towards the clock tower once more. He'd gone there earlier in the day in the hopes of finding the mask salesman inside. He hadn't been there, and passing through the doors now made the same discovery. The light of Clock Town spilled into the dark room to illuminate only the turning pole and stone of the room; the cogs turned just as noisily as ever, it otherwise deserted.

Link sighed, remembering his resolution to visit the salesman after immediately returning with the witches; he'd completely forgotten about it upon initially returning, and wondered if he had been there at that point in time. He would have to have been there, were he repeating the time stream as he was supposed to; Link, however, didn't think this was the case.

"Link!"

He turned instantly at this voice, his eyes wide and searching, no longer downcast as they scanned the skies. It didn't take long at all before they'd found Tatl; she was flying across the square eagerly, coming from East Clock Town directly towards him. Link smiled broadly at her appearance, running to meet her halfway as he closed the clock tower doors behind him. She flew directly into his arms, and Link embraced her tightly in return. He then let her go, still smiling brightly, all sad thoughts momentarily suspended.

"You're back!" he said, his blue eyes happy for the first time since Kotake's death.

"It took me a minute to find you, in those clothes and all," the fairy said, after a moment's silence. "I was looking for your green, pointy hat."

Link's smile began to fade when he noticed the tone in which Tatl was talking, also noting that she was looking at him sadly. He shook his head in confusion, not understanding. "What's wrong? Did you..." Then his eyes widened in understanding. "... the swamp?"

Tatl retained her expression of grief and didn't say anything, answering him immediately.

* * *

"Another pint, please."

Link dropped the blue rupee onto the counter in front of him, just beside his head that was also lying down on top of it. He stared off distantly, Tatl floating just beside him in concern, noting the three empty bottles of milk collected just beside him. "This isn't solving anything," the fairy finally remarked, having been futile in her efforts to restore his willingness to do anything.

"There's no point," Link said, reaching out for one of the empty bottles with his head still down, and lazily spinning it by the rim with his fingertips.

"Please stop saying that," Tatl pleaded, trying her best to not become irritated.

"But it's just like you said," he replied, opening his new bottle of milk and lifting his head to take a swig from it, the bartender eying him worriedly before moving onto another customer along the bar. The Milk Bar had been open for a few hours now, only a handful of people filling the stools where the milk was served. The stage on the far end was completely empty, a rather fat creature, blue, white, fish-like, and humanoid, sitting in a chair just in front of it, what Link would have recognized to be a zora, resting his chin on his fist and squinted in deep thought or disappointment. The portly, mustached bartender had had the faint familiarity Anju had, but Link hadn't bothered to press the matter, knowing it would have been fruitless.

He put the bottle of milk down after he was finished and turned to the fairy, his expression as distraught as it had been when they'd first appeared in the plaza. "The swamp's poisoned again and no one remembered you. Everything we did was lost."

"No, that's not true. Remember Odolwa's mask?"

"Like that means anything!" Link exclaimed suddenly, shaking his head and resting it down on the counter once more. "There's probably another Odolwa in the temple; why else would the water be poisoned again?"

"But not everything can just be duplicated like that," Tatl said, scoffing slightly at the notion.

"You could." It took Link a moment to realize exactly what he'd just said, the fairy's resulting silence causing him to do so. He lifted his head slowly, his eyes wide when he turned to see Tatl looking up at him, aghast. "Tatl...," he began, getting off of the counter completely as he turned to face her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Tatl flew off before he could finish, traveling up the staircase and out the bar door. "Tatl, wait!" Link called after her, jumping down from his stool and stumbling slightly as landed on his feet. He managed to regain his balance, however, the barkeeper shaking his head as he watched the slightly drunken youth climb the stairs to follow after her.

He stepped through into the cool night air, it revitalizing; the sky was still clouded, but the moisture from the earlier rainfall was still dampening the atmosphere. The torches lining the plaza illuminated the already glowing fairy, who was just in front of the bar and looking off sadly. East Clock Town was abandoned otherwise; as always, by the second night, most had fled Clock Town due to the slowly approaching rock in the sky.

"Tatl, I didn't mean that!" Link said quickly, taking a few steps towards her and now much more alert than he had been. "You're not just a duplicate! You're more than that."

"I know," Tatl said, sighing and turning around. "I know you didn't mean what you said; you're just not yourself right now. I'm always the one trying to convince _you_ how hopeless everything is; you're acting like you did in the pit in Woodfall. But then there was something tangible that was trapping us; now..." She trailed off, as if not exactly sure how to finish. "I just can't do it alone; please, come back to me, Link. I don't want to give up yet."

Link didn't say anything at first, looking down before he found the words. "I don't want to either, but I'm afraid there's nothing left to do..."

"Yes there is," Tatl said immediately, causing Link to lift his head. "What I was going to say in there was that the ocarina stayed with you; after you went back in time with it, another one didn't appear in the Skull Kid's hand. I think that means the spirit you freed could still be saved too, which means we can find and do the same to the other ones."

Link thought this over, the fairy glad to know he wasn't immediately shooting down her idea as he had for the past several hours. "Okay," Link finally said. "I guess... that's all we can do. Me moping around like this isn't going to solve anything. I'm just wasting what little time we have left before... before the Skull Kid finds us again."

"I understand why you feel the way you do," Tatl added, "but you have to overcome that if you ever want to stop the moon from falling. Obviously, we can't keep hiding in these three day cycles anymore."

Link nodded, not having anything else to add himself. They stood in silence for a brief while, Tatl eventually flying down to be just in front of him. Link looked up at her and couldn't help but smile. "Thanks for being there for me, Tatl. If we ever do end up winning this thing, it'll be thanks to you just as much as it is me."

The fairy returned the smile. "I don't know; I mean, I feel like I do over the half the work here, with you being either fatally injured or depressed every other day." Link laughed slightly at her sarcasm, stumbling forward soon after, before catching himself.

"Though, before we set off for the mountains, I think I should... sleep off this milk." His hand went to his head to steady himself, and blinked heavily twice before looking back up at Tatl.

"What's the matter, Mr. Hero?" Tatl asked sarcastically. "Is the milk in Hyrule not as strong as it is here?"

"Shut up," Link said playfully, batting her away as he half-walked/half-fell towards the Stock Pot Inn.

* * *

It was the final day. At nine in the morning, Link stepped out of Clock Town's hotel standing tall and resolute. His green tunic was clean and fresh, all rips and stains mended or cleaned; his boots were in just as good of his shape, his hat finally once again adorning his blonde head, it having been removed ever since his adventure in the Woodfall Temple. His sword and shield were secured and on his person, his ocarina was on his belt, and his bag was over his shoulder. Inside it were two bottles of water, his Deku and Odolwa masks, two magic beans, Deku seeds, and what was left over of the rupees. He was ready, and Tatl flew out beside him as if to confirm this.

He walked a few steps into the center of the East Clock Town plaza, looking up at the moon that was now much closer than it ever had been before on this particular cycle. He was smiling, however, once again filled with hope that there was still something he could do. It no longer mattered to him whether or not it was false; as Tatl had said, this was the only plan they had, and there was a possibility, no matter how slim, that it would work.

"Are you ready?" Tatl asked, returning his smile as she asked this.

"I think so," he replied. "Snowhead doesn't sound nearly as intimidating as Death Mountain did. You're sure I won't need anything for the cold?"

"No; Snowhead's only icy up near the peak. Every time I've been there, it's been bearable."

Link nodded. "Well then, I don't think there's anything left to do here." Tatl nodded in agreement, floating down to be on his shoulder. He brought up his ocarina, put it to his lips, and began once more to play the Song of Time.

The world around them began to fade, the cycle in which he'd recuperated dissipating into the darkness overtaking their senses.

The sun, as always, was much brighter than it had been before they'd played the song, and so they stepped from the clock tower doors blinking heavily. Their eyes adjusted, and Link and Tatl stood side by side as they watched the busy towns people always exactly where they were in the beginning. The carpenters were still constructing the large wooden structure they always had finished by the carnival; the Deku scrub with his hands filled with bags was still flying overhead; the postman was still hastily running about to fulfill his schedule; the peculiar child with the fox mask was still going to deliver his letter to the postbox; they all still looked over at the two newcomers at first before resuming their daily activities.

"Wait!" Link said, turning to the clock tower doors and opening them. He stepped inside only for his heart to sink; Tatl flew with him to see the empty inside, with the wooden pole turning along with the machinery. "He's still not here..."

"That's so weird," Tatl replied. "I guess this is proof that the Song of Time isn't as all powerful as we thought?"

"We've already seen enough of that," Link remarked dryly.

"That blank slate of yours isn't as clean as you thought, huh?" Tatl asked sarcastically, referencing a conversation they'd had in the temple.

Link laughed lightly at this. "Yeah, so much for tabula rasa. It's stained."

They stood in silence within the darkness of the clock tower for a moment, only a sliver of light peeking in from the almost sealed doors. "To be honest, I'm kind of glad he isn't here," Tatl said. "He kind of scares me. Come on; we already have a plan. We don't need him anymore." Link nodded in agreement, closing the door behind him to step once more into the sunlight. Link and Tatl, after a moment of allowing their eyes to adjust, once again began their journey across the plaza.

One of the carpenters was staring up into the sky, as if something from above was approaching him. At first, Link took no notice, until he took a second glance to see that his eyes were wide in absolute terror. Link raised an eyebrow curiously, the ghost of the smile from earlier still on his face, as he heard something begin to approach them from behind. As he began to turn, he caught a flickering of purple light in his peripheral; it took him only a split second to understand what this was, as well as to understand that if he tried to finish turning around, he would be dead before he ever finished. Tatl, who'd begun to turn around herself, drew in a massive gulp of air as if it to shout, or warn Link, but she was never able to complete this task in time.

He flung himself as far as he could to the side, unable to land properly on his feet as a massive ball of purple fire exploded in the spot where he'd been, sending heat and darkness outward. Link, now lying on the ground, cowered as the blast stretched outward, just barely missing him as it arced out into a wide radius. The carpenter who'd seen it approaching stumbled onto his back and narrowly avoided it himself, Tatl spinning out of the way. Everyone turned to see where it had come from, all finding the imp, a tiny dot from way up in the air beside the clock tower.

He'd returned from letting out his anger on the pirates, and he'd kept the promise he'd made to himself.

Link had no time to reflect on this matter as he jumped to his feet, the Skull Kid already preparing another wave of violet flames, this attack generated to be much larger than the first. Link's happiness instantly melted away and was replaced with adrenaline and fear, his mind blank and his heart pumping madly as he ran for the structure in the center of the plaza. The other townspeople began to look up from their daily routines at what happened, all confused, and some screaming and pointing up into the air, as their attacker began to strike again. Tatl flew close to Link as they continued running, unable to warn the villagers and knowing _they_ were the target.

The Skull Kid's next burst of fire came down in a sort of spiraling vortex, landing in the plaza as he released it. He came to stand just in front of the clock tower doors when he finally let it go, the spell twirling around madly just feet behind those it was intended for, the Skull Kid flying right behind it in case it missed. Link and Tatl took no time to turn and see the spell he conjured, running for the structure intently.

The carpenter who'd fallen onto his back scrambled to his feet just as the boy and fairy had reached his position, the other carpenters already running chaotically away from the tornado of fire. The villagers were either rooted to the spot or had fled in terror, trying to shield their youth as they ran, the South Clock Town plaza transformed into utter chaos in mere moments.

Link and Tatl dove behind the structure just as the fire reached for them, it instead slamming into the wooden structure, which immediately burst into flame. They did not stop there, but continued sprinting; the only two routes were through the South Clock Town gate or the staircase into East Clock Town. The former would leave them vulnerable and open for seconds that could be precious; therefore, Link took the later, Tatl following as they hurried for the corner much nearer than the other option had been. They ran passed the guard, who'd ran from his post in front of the gate and held his spear up, shaking as he stared up at the now flaming tower.

The structure itself was unable to remain standing for very long, and bent to fall inward towards the clock tower, where the Skull Kid had found himself, having eagerly followed his fiery twister. Looking up to see the flaming structure coming down on top of him, his eyes shot open, kicking off of the ground and flying backwards. The others in its path were not as fortunate; the structure collapsed into the plaza on top of two carpenters whose legs had obviously not been fast enough. The wooden structure burst into more flames as soon as it hit the ground, sending a ball of fire into the air that quickly faded away, though not before it claimed two more victims who'd attempted to flee. The cloud of smoke that resulted was not nearly as quickly to disperse, suddenly engulfing all within the nearby vicinity, including the Skull Kid. The masked imp's vision was momentarily impaired. He coughed harshly along with the others trapped in its grasp, his eyes burning.

The entire time, Link and Tatl did not stop running, and had disappeared behind the corner towards East Clock Town, just as the Skull Kid flew out of the cloud of smoke and coughed the last of it out of his system. He looked up to see his two adversaries no where in sight; initially, he moved to fly after them, stopping himself when he looked down to see the hacking villagers who'd survived, either walking or crawling out of the smoke. He heard their cries, some sobbing and some screaming, and he couldn't help but allow his lips to curl into a smile.

_The boy and fairy are in the palm of my hand, like caged little animals; they can't get away. And putting them out of their misery so quickly is far more than they deserve._

The Skull Kid then looked up at the sky; it was still orange, the sun still hardly over the horizon. The imp threw his arms into the air and clenched his fists, shaking as he let out a piercing shriek. Immediately following this, the massive stone walls encircling Clock Town began to tremor violently; each of the four main gates began to close in on themselves, the ground separating the two walls rising into the air. This took only moments to complete, the exits to the swamp, mountains, ocean, and canyon all sealed off completely; there was now merely one continuously wall completely encircling the town.

The Skull Kid laughed lightly at this, clearing his throat as he brought his arms down and coughed the last bit of smoke out. He then flew down a few more feet and flung his arms into the air once more as he spoke, "People of Clock Town!" There was no verbal response, though whatever spell he'd cast had made his voice much louder and more audible than was humanly possible; it echoed throughout every corner of the village, as if projected by machine's far ahead of Termina's time in each of the plazas.

Those in the southern plaza, the only ones the imp could see, turned away from the plume of smoke where the structure had been and the blank stone wall where the gate had. Some lay motionless on the ground, others shaking, one man running out of the cloud of smoke completely ablaze. Those who could, however, shakily got to their feet and turned around, those who'd never fallen standing fearfully beside those they held dear. Soon most of the remaining eyes were on him, two villagers, however, banging on the solid stone wall where an exit to Clock Town had once been. The guard joined the villagers circling where the imp was hovering over the ground, their necks craned up to see him, eyes wide in terror.

"I'm terribly sorry for wrecking your tower, and hope you'll forgive me for ruining what I'm sure would have been a marvelous spectacle come the Carnival of Time." The Skull Kid spoke elegantly and calmly, his voice still echoing powerfully, the villagers not responding, but continuing to stare up at him in an animal-like manner, terrified even more by the way in which he seemed to disregard the lives he had just ended.

"I regret to inform you, however, that my business here is not yet concluded," the masked imp said, shaking his head in feigned disappointment. "As I'm sure most of you noticed, a young boy and his fairy just passed through the double doors below, on the bottom of the clock tower." He turned and pointed to the doors, as if they needed further explanation, but very few of their eyes actually wavered to follow where it was he was pointing. The imp's eyes, however, darted in every direction, looking to see people beginning to pour from behind the clock tower and the east and west districts; obviously, the commotion he had caused was beginning to draw a crowd. He heard a horrified gasp come from one of the females who'd entered the plaza, but chose to ignore it, as well as the woman who'd begun to scream in agony over a lifeless body that she'd drug out from inside of the smoke.

"I've come here to find the boy, and refuse to leave until he's mine." He paused, as if for emphasis, but then continued soon after. "This is where all of you come in. Bring me the boy in the green tunic, with the funnel-shaped hat and the blonde hair. He'll be accompanied with his fairy, who'll help you identify him but isn't needed otherwise. That... is all I ask of you."

The Skull Kid then turned away from the crowd, facing in no particular direction but away from the people who had gathered below him. "This time, I'm talking directly to you, Boy," his voice declared, it booming in all reaches of the town. "I'm not leaving this spot, and neither are you, since all of the gates are closed. But for every hour you fail to come before me, a resident of Clock Town will be slain, of my choosing! There are plenty to pick from, and I promise I won't run out before all seventy-two hours do." He then looked up at the far away moon as if to reassure himself, before continuing.

"Know that all of these people's lives are now in your hands. There's no running; as soon as you play that precious ocarina of yours, you'll appear right below me, and I'll be here to strike you down!" He then laughed lightly to himself when he looked down at the townspeople who were beginning to back away from him, those who were the smartest turning to run from wherever they'd came.

"Now, I don't know your name, Boy, and I don't know where you've come from," the Skull Kid continued, still smiling widely from behind the mask, "but I do know this: you will not leave this town alive. It's up to you how you die, and for us to find out just how spineless you are! How much blood will you let be spilt in your name, before you offer me up your own to drink? How many will you let suffer, while you cower in safety from whatever rat-infested corner of this town you hide in? I'm eager to find out! So...

"Let the games begin!" The Skull Kid then threw his head back into the air and began to cackle madly, kicking his legs as he clutched his stomach and laughed like a child. All the while, Link and Tatl remained hidden, fearfully taking in every word.

* * *

To those anonymous reviewers:

Xslayer: As have I, heart pieces included! And in regards to the final battle, I'm still working out the details of that, and I'm trying to incorporate as much of the game as I can without straying from the story I intend to tell.


	22. Stained Tabula Rasa, Part 2

Note: Originally, I'd intended "Stained Tabula Rasa" to be only two parts, but it ended up being a lot longer than intended. So, there will be a third part to follow. I think I may eventually go back and change the name of the first one to something else, so as to avoid using "Part 1, 2, 3, etc" as much as possible.

* * *

_Chapter 22: Stained Tabula Rasa, Part 2_

"... _Do you think it's safe to come out now?_" Link whispered, still trembling in the moist darkness of his hiding place.

With the imp's voice now silent, he could be anywhere, or doing anything; Link and Tatl remained huddled in the Deku flower, the resulting silence more intimidating than the monologue had been. They merely heard hushed voices of large groups of townspeople, each sounding just as terrified; the blood curdling scream of one woman in particular still rang out over all, it coming from South Clock Town.

"Yes," Tatl finally said.

Link took a deep breath, before slowly stepping out of the plant, deciding a dramatic exodus would be more than unnecessary. The first step his bare, wooden textured feet took on the stone was light, tentatively pulling the rest of himself out until he was standing upright, his orange eyes shining and his blonde hair messy. The bag was slung around his shoulders, however, having removed it before the transformation, the fairy stowed away within. Deku Link, in East Clock Town, having entered the flower just outside of the Stock Pot Inn, watched small groups of villagers sprinting across the plaza towards one building or another. Otherwise they were walking slowly and uncertainly, always glancing over Link's head, presumably at the clock tower he knew was towering somewhere behind him.

Link stepped down from the small ledge he was on and rigidly refused to turn around, knowing that above the building just behind him he would see the tower in the distance. And in front of the tower, the imp, watching all.

"_Come back! Please, come back! Nayru! Nayru help us!_" The women continued screaming, this also coming from the direction Link refused to turn.

"_What do we do now?_" Link whispered discreetly, his high-pitched voice unable to hide his fear, still sweeping the area in front of him.

"We have to find somewhere to hide," the fairy whispered back. Link continued looking around, noting the people laying up against the wall where the eastern gate had been. Some, presumably those who did not have a home or own a shop, were shaking up against it, as if vainly hoping it would reopen. No one paid any attention to the Deku scrub with the bag; the clues the imp had given to identify Link had only put his human form in danger, and his suspicious behavior was indistinguishable from the complete collapse of order that had recently ensued the town.

"_We can't just let them die_," Link stammered, paranoid as he made sure no attention had been drawn to them. "_We can't be the cowards he expects us to be._"

"If we confront him, that would be idiotic. We'd be dead before we even reached the base of the tower. They're all going to be crushed by the moon in three days anyways, Link."

"_Sh! Talk quieter and don't use my name!_"

"He doesn't know your name!" Tatl exclaimed, realizing the noise she'd made and stopping herself from saying anything else, Link looking around to make sure no one had noticed. At that moment, a grown man came close to trampling him; the Deku Scrub managed to side-step him, however, the man not turning to apologize as he continued running towards the upper section of the East Clock Town district.

"He called you 'Boy', and specifically said he didn't know what it was. And no one else here will remember you since we just played the Song of Time," she finished, much softer.

"_But he did say I would have a fairy with me_," Link whispered back, deciding that standing still was beginning to seem too suspicious. He began taking a few steps forward awkwardly, not exactly sure where, still refusing to turn around, deathly afraid he would do so only to meet Majora's eyes. "_And hiding's pointless._ _It's like he said; we're all trapped. Hiding isn't going to save us, and neither __is running. We only have seventy-two hours before the moon falls, and time traveling would leave us sitting ducks right underneath him._"

"I don't understand that," Tatl said gravely. "Do you think he... travels back in time with us? Is that what the black mark did?"

"_That's the only explanation_," Link said, turning to see a villager staring at him. The man had been knocking on the doors of one of the shops, but no one would answer his pleas for shelter. Having given up and turned around, he'd begun to look suspiciously at the Deku scrub walking around in slow circles, whispering to himself.

Link turned around quickly, his cheeks warm with nerves, making sure to look down, so as to not look over at the building where he knew the Skull Kid was floating. "_Look, I need something to do now. We can't hide, so come up with something else!_"

"Hiding's all I've got," the fairy responded. "We can think of what to do next once we're safe somewhere."

"_Where?_" Link whispered sharply, looking over his shoulder at the man, who was still staring at him. Link turned away again, realizing how stupidly he was acting in the sensitivity of the situation.

"The Stock Pot Inn!"

Link took this advice immediately and without hesitation, walking briskly towards the nearby entrance without looking at the man. Upon turning the handle, however, it refused to budge. "_It's locked!_"

"Use the Deku flower to get up on the roof. There's a door outside on the second story, remember?"

Link, at first hesitant to do anything, looked down at the base of the door while standing still. He then turned around and quickly walked towards the plant, and was soon leaping out with a flower in either hand. He eventually landed on the awning, the flowers falling limply to either side, his heart beating rapidly for having had to do anything out of the ordinary. True, he'd caused several people to look at him, but they'd simply gone about their business afterward, including the man who had been staring at him.

Link, passing by the town bell, continued until he reached the second story door. The screaming had stopped, Link unsure as to whether or not that was good or bad, and the sky was still young with the new day. Hardly half of an hour had passed, and nothing had been said by the Skull Kid since the 'game' he'd forced upon Clock Town.

Link found the door unlocked and disappeared inside.

* * *

He stepped onto the hard wood of the hallway, the top of the staircase just to his right, and the corner leading into the rest of the hallway on his left. It was deathly silent, no one present and the only noise that of the turning clock downstairs in the lobby. The Deku scrub, not having his fairy to turn and exchange a glance with, went to go down the staircase, Tatl still within his bag. His feet hardly made a noise as he went, realizing the hotel wouldn't have opened for almost another hour and a half.

When he rounded the corner into the lobby, no one was behind the desk. It was just as deserted.

His snout moved to speak to Tatl, but he stopped himself, wondering how far his voice would travel in the still air of the silent building. Link was certain someone was there, knowing that they always were by eight when the hotel opened.

"What are you doing here?"

Link jumped, turning away quickly to see Anju standing in the doorway. She was still gripping the corner that lead from the staircase into the lobby, as if having hesitantly peered around at first before fully stepping down. Link looked up to meet her eyes, the hotel keeper in the same attire and same hair style she always had on the first day; the only change was the expression on her face, which was the same one everyone in the town shared. They remained across the room from each other, Link stumbling for words before speaking.

"_I'm_... _sorry_," Link stammered, shaking his head. "_We have a reservation, but the door was __locked. And... given everything that just happened, we..._"

"We?" Anju said, still not entirely trusting of the Deku scrub, and seeing no one else with him, despite his choice of pronouns.

"_What do you..._" Link cut off when he understood what she was referring to, and he felt his cheeks warm again, his heart beating loudly in his ears, knowing now he would be bright red if he were human. Anju, now even more cautious, allowed her eyes to find his blonde hair, Link following her line of sight. Instantly, his mind flashed to the description the Skull Kid had given to identify him: a boy with a funnel-shaped hat, green tunic, blonde hair, and fairy. He realized now the imp had never specified what the race of the boy was, and he knew the same thought was now traveling through Anju's mind. Most had probably assumed the Skull Kid was referring to a human, given the townspeople's previous disinterest in him, but the innkeeper now had reason to think otherwise. His orange eyes noticed her gaze now looking at his bag.

Throughout these racing thoughts, the two had remained standing apart from one another, their eyes surveying suspiciously. Anju broke the silence. "Do you have a name?"

"_Y-y-yes_," Link said, mistakenly stammering. It wasn't until after he answered that he realized how odd of a question this was. His heart was racing, as was Tatl's, who remained as buried as she could.

"You'll have to tell me what it is, so I can check my log," Anju said simply, the tension in the air strong as she walked slowly over towards her desk.

Link, once again, was at a loss for words. The innkeeper had bent down over her book, turning to face the Deku scrub when he remained standing in the middle of the room, speechless. Link, shakily, reached for the strap on his bag. Anju, alarmed by this gesture, gasped, taking several steps backwards and away from him.

"_No, wait!_" Link exclaimed, throwing his hand out to stop her, herself now up against the desk, clutching it tightly. "_I'm not going to hurt you, I just..._" He then went to do what he'd intended, removing the strap from his shoulder and allowing the bag to hit the floor. Tatl, who was shocked at this turn of events, remained inside regardless. Link continued to bring his hands up to his face, bringing them down with the Deku mask in his hands, his human form returning to him instantaneously. Suddenly, his funnel-shaped hat and green tunic were both visible. Anju's eyes were wide now, not able to run without crossing his path, terrified.

"Anju, you have to remember," Link said, his voice now deeper and human. Tatl, upon hearing it, gasped.

He waited for her to say something, but she could only shake her head.

"My name's Link," he said, his blue eyes now intent upon hers. "We were best friends in Hyrule together, but now that I've come to Termina, you don't even remember me. I don't know why; I'm not even sure where I am, because no one here has even heard of the outside world. But I need your help right now. I've been able to escape... the imp outside by time traveling, but somehow he's started entering the loops with us, and if I try to go back again, he'll kill me when I appear underneath him. I come in here almost every three day cycle to take Ink's reservation, and on a few of those, we've actually gotten to know each other again."

Anju's face was completely blank, comprehension and belief obviously no where present in her expression.

"I know how crazy all of this sounds," Link began, looking down as he began to wonder what exactly he was doing, "but I need you. I don't have anywhere else to hide, and I'm the only one that can stop him. If you or anyone else turns me in, then you'll all just die when the moon crashes into the town three days from now."

Anju, when he stopped, jumped when a fairy flew out from inside of the bag, Tatl turning to face her as she flew by Link's side. "Look, my partner didn't mean to throw all of that out at you," she said quickly, throwing Link an evil glare before continuing. "All of it's true, but we're just trying to make sure we work together here. The Skull Kid is trying to turn us against one another, and..."

"Why should I believe anything you're saying?" Anju said, her voice outraged, interrupting the fairy. "There's no reason for me to believe you're who you say you are. You brought some demon into town, broke into my hotel, and accuse me of wanting to turn you in?"

Link and Tatl were both caught off guard by this statement, the fairy backing down and Link shaking his head. "You mean you weren't..."

"No," she said, interrupting Link, her eyes suddenly finding his sword. "At least, I wasn't going to. But if you... even _think_ about drawing your sword, or doing anything funny..."

"I'm not here to hurt you," Link insisted.

"... then there are plenty of people upstairs who'd be willing to do it."

"Anju, can you please just listen."

"No, you listen!" the innkeeper said, pushing Link away and taking a few steps from him back towards the doorway. "You can't just break into my hotel and expect me to believe you're some, time traveling hero from another world!"

"Link... maybe we should just go," Tatl whispered in his ear, but Link refused.

"Then I'll prove it to you," he said, gulping. The fairy had no idea where he was going with this, puzzled as she waited for him to continue. "Kafei is supposed to send you a letter today." Anju, who'd been half-way turned towards the staircase, gave Link her full attention as soon as this statement was made. "Sometime in the afternoon, and it says that... he still loves you, and still wants to be with you. He just can't right now because something's stopping him. He didn't say exactly what, but it doesn't matter. The point is, he's still alive, and promised to come back in time for the carnival."

Anju's lips quivered when she tried to think of a response, herself trying to fight back tears. "How do you know about Kafei?"

"I told you already," Link said. "I've lived through these three days more than once. You've told me about him, and I read the letter he sent you." Suddenly, his mind went numb when he remembered the events taking place outside, and the effects they would have on the mail delivery. "... The mail probably isn't coming anymore because of the Skull Kid, but the letter's probably still in the post box. I could go get it for you, and show you..."

"No you can't!" Tatl suddenly interrupted. "You'd be turning yourself in if you step foot anywhere near South Clock Town!"

"The post office isn't in South Clock Town," Anju responded immediately, Link and the fairy surprised at her sudden interest.

"But the letter is probably there," Link said. "It said for you to respond to him through the mailbox near the laundry pool." When Anju only continued looking at him with shining eyes, he went on. "Listen, the letter's there in his handwriting; if you can give us a chance to go get it..."

"Link, I already told you. We can't do that!" Tatl repeated.

"Then I'll go," Anju said, walking over to the desk and pulling out a cloak. She threw it over her head, it coming down just over her shoulders, holding the two ends together just in front of her.

"You'll go?" Tatl inquired, confused as she turned to follow the innkeeper going to the door.

Anju stopped, back to them, after the fairy spoke. Link and Tatl merely stood behind her, speechless, the innkeeper eventually looking over her shoulder back at them. "I thought he was dead, or had left me," she finally said. "If whatever proof you have relates to him... then I can't lose this chance to see it. I'd lost all hope." When she took a breath next, they thought it sounded shaky, as if she was fighting an emotional reaction to what she was saying. "This imp said he wouldn't hurt anyone until an hour had past, so I'll be fine. The key to the Knife Chamber is in the second drawer from the left; that's the room Ink was under." Then she opened the door, closed it behind her, and left them in the lobby.

Link and Tatl stood there for a moment in silence, staring at the door. The fairy, naturally, was the one who broke it.

"You _idiot_!" Tatl exclaimed suddenly, flying to be just in front of his face. "Next time you decide to throw everything out in the open, _tell_ me! Your stupidity never ceases to amaze sometimes; I swear to Din you don't think twice before you do anything."

Link, the nerves from the Skull Kid's death threat abating, smiled at this, opening his mouth to say something, until the noise of someone running down the stairs registered with the two of them. The fairy and boy exchanged a horrified glance, before the former flew into the bag lying on the floor and the later threw on his Deku scrub mask.

A large, middle-aged, red-haired lady with a strong resemblance to Anju came around the corner into the lobby. Her eyes instantly found the blonde headed Deku scrub by himself, bending down to pick up a bag lying on the floor.

"Who're you?" she asked, as Link picked it up and slung it over his shoulder.

"_Ink_," he responded quickly, hoping to not allow nerves to get the best of him again.

"How did you get in here?"

"_Anju let me in. I had a reservation._" The woman's skepticism was beginning to fade as she continued to examine the seemingly helpless, young, Deku scrub, who only looked up at her with bright, orange eyes. "_She just left a few seconds ago, and said she'd be back in a minute._"

"Where are your parents?" she asked.

"_They won't be here for another three days. They wanted me to come and get the room early, so they could still have one for the carnival_."

The lady, at first thinking of more questions, sighed, deciding it best to not press the matter. "I'm not sure there's going to be a carnival anymore. Did she tell you what room was yours?"

"_The Knife Chamber_."

She then walked over the desk, bent over its surface, and retrieved a key. "Here. It's not safe outside anymore, so you should stay here with us until this mess blows over."

"_Thank you_." He then grabbed the key and walked swiftly to the staircase, Anju's mother looking after him suspiciously.

* * *

She came down from the west staircase flanking the clock tower, stepping into the plaza with the cloak still drawn over her head. Anju had been approaching slowly, however, mouth agape and eyes shocked at what she saw in the center. Where the wooden tower had been was now a pile of burnt, charred wood, only vestiges of the smoke now lingering, the smell of burning still heavy. The debris was scattered here and there, and somewhere in the middle of it crouched an elderly woman on her knees. A young, adult male was lying in her arms, his head cradled up against her shoulder, his body black and charred, mouth slightly open, eyes closed. He had been one of the carpenters, presumably one of the less fortunate ones. The elderly woman's face was streaked with tears, but she appeared to have stopped crying some time ago, now silently rocking his body back and forth.

Anju, having stopped at first, unsure what to do, eventually decided to walk towards the old woman, South Clock Town completely deserted otherwise, looking odd without the southern gate that was usually there, or the busy crowd of people. Looking around further, she noticed two other corpses, both buried in the rubble and unattended by anyone. Anju stepped over a large, black piece of wood and then was just in front of the old woman, who was still refusing to look up at her, sadly looking into the closed eyes of the corpse instead.

"You can come stay in our hotel," Anju eventually said sweetly, after a moment of silence. She had worn the cloak in order to hide her identity and prevent hundreds from begging her to stay, as her mother would have instructed, but this was a different situation entirely. "It's not going to be safe here soon." The innkeeper looked up to the clock to confirm this, and suddenly froze. While the clock read 6:42, it was what was floating in front of the clock that had scared her.

Majora's mask was, and it was bearing down directly at her, the Skull Kid rigidly staring, arms crossed. Anju opened her mouth in shock, at first finding herself shaking and unable to tear away from the orange orbs. They seemed to stare within her... tearing her inside out... even from such a great distance...

She eventually turned back down to the woman, who had still refused to look up. Anju now reasoned she was doing this in fear of having to look at the imp. "The guard tried to get me to leave too," she said shakily and softly, still not meeting Anju's eyes. Her voice sounded tired, and sad, stricken with unbearable grief. "Without my son, there's no reason for me to live anymore."

"You don't have to die though," Anju insisted. "You'd be safe with me."

The old woman then turned her head slowly to stare directly back. Her blue eyes conveyed sorrow to an extent Anju could never understand, still shining brightly. "_Please_," she begged in hardly a whisper. "_Let me stay with him. There's nothing left for me_." The lady then turned back down to her son and allowed another tear to roll down her cheek, it rolling down to land on her son's face, in a spot that Anju then noticed was already wet.

The innkeeper had nothing left to say, and nodded her head in feigned understanding, walking slowly away and towards the post box that was near the Laundry Pool staircase. She would not allow herself to look back at the old woman, knowing that if she did, she might not be able to walk out with any amount of composure. The fear of the Skull Kid also kept her back turned.

Anju eventually reached the red box and pulled out a key; before heading here she had decided to go by the post office in West Clock Town. The postman had explained that he had not received a letter from the South Clock Town box yet, but that she was more than welcome to check herself, since the postal service was temporarily suspended. Upon turning the key in its hole, the box opened, revealing a single letter inside.

Anju's heart began to race at the sight of it, and thoughts of Kafei flooded her mind. She reached down into the box nervously, her fingers wrapping around the envelope and then pulling it out. Before turning it over to see the front, she took in a deep breath. _It was addressed to her_. Anju's eyes lit up at this, and she almost ripped open the envelope without thinking. She stopped with her fingers on the fold, however, when she felt something behind her.

Anju turned around and was face to face with the Skull Kid, the masked imp floating an inch from her face. She opened her mouth and gasped, shaking from head to toe as she backed away into the open mailbox, unable to find any air as her lips unsuccessfully tried to form words. Her face was drained of all color, her fingers clutching the letter by her side tightly as if it was able to reassure her safety.

The Skull Kid did not move, the distance hardly changing after she'd backed away as far as she could. They continued staring at one another, the innkeeper anything but composed and the child menacing. "I know you're hiding him," the imp said simply, still not moving, Anju still shaking. "There was no where else for him to go." Anju stammered for some sort of a response, but only made a few incomprehensible noises, unsure if she'd intended to lie or not. "I knew that would happen though. It's all part of my plan, you see. I want him to suffer. I want to destroy him emotionally before I kill him physically." Anju merely stared blankly, in fear, not daring to respond.

"And do you know how I intend to do that?" Anju eventually found the courage to shake her head slowly. The masked imp, in response, flew up to put his mouth right next to her ear, lifting the mask slightly to do so, Anju's eyes flying wide open, frozen in place. He whispered in that dark voice only Majora could speak in. "_**I'm going to make sure he's here to see it when I kill you**_."

Anju gasped a second time, this time silently, it only a gulp of air, her mouth remaining wide open in terror as the Skull Kid drew his head back and flew to return in front of clock face. The innkeeper remained there a moment longer, staring off where the monster had just been. She then ran for the Stock Pot Inn, holding the letter tightly, not daring to look at the imp again.

* * *

"_Well, here we finally are, hiding. Now what?_" Link squeaked, sitting on the bed of his hotel room, Tatl lying on the bag on the opposite one, ready to disappear inside at a moment's notice.

"I don't know," the fairy said, sighing. "We should probably give it more time."

"_We don't have more time. In just a few minutes, someone's going to die, because of me_."

"No, not because of you, because of the Skull Kid. If it wasn't now, then they were going to die when the moon fell anyways."

"_But that doesn't change the fact that he's killing them now_."

"I know it doesn't, but there's nothing we can do. If you go out there and try to save whatever stranger he's going after, everyone in all of Termina loses _all_ hope."

"_What if it's not a stranger?_" Link asked. He and the fairy exchanged glances at that moment, the two of them eventually turning away without any further response. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Tatl instantly sprung into the bag just as the door was opened a crack. "It's me," came Anju's voice from the other side.

"_You can come in_," Link answered, the fairy peering back out when she realized it was merely the innkeeper, who stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. When she looked up to see the Deku scrub sitting on the bed, however, she stopped walking, keeping her hand on the door knob.

"Oh!" she said, as if shocked.

"_What's wrong?_"

"I wasn't expecting to see you... in your disguise."

It took Link a minute to realize what she was talking about, and then he shook his head, putting his hands up to his face and removing the mask. "Sorry," he began. "I just wasn't sure how the others would react to me."

"I didn't mean you had to take it off!" Anju said, taking her hand off of the door knob and stepping further into the room, bringing her hands together just in front of herself as she usually did.

"It's... fine," Link said, a moment of awkward silence quickly following.

"Did you find the letter?" Tatl asked, breaking it and flying to be beside Link.

"I did," Anju said. "And I'm going to let you two hide here." Link and Tatl's faces lit up at this. "I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but I know that the masked imp outside isn't going to stop if he had you two. Do you... plan on stopping him, somehow?"

"Yes," Link said. "We're just not sure how yet."

"Okay," she said simply. Anju turned away after this, not exactly making for the door but now nervously twiddling her fingers, as if wondering whether or not she should do something.

"Is something wrong?" Link finally asked.

"No," she said, finally turning around. "I was just wondering if there was anything else about Kafei that you knew."

Instantly, Link's mind flashed to him entering Anju's house in Hyrule, in whatever alternate world or time line that had been, in order to console her over the death of Kafei. "No," he said, Anju appearing disappointed. "But that doesn't mean we can't find out for ourselves." He slipped off of the bed and walked across the room to be in front of her, pulling the ocarina out of his belt and showing it to her. "Every time I play this certain song on here, it sends me back to exactly six in the morning on this day, directly in front of the clock tower doors. Not long after the carnival starts at midnight, the giant moon in the sky is going to fall down and destroy Termina. The Skull Kid, that imp with the mask, is what makes that happen, and has found some way to come back in time with me." Anju nodded, as if vaguely understanding.

"The point is, I have the ability to relive these same three days. If we can find out a way to remove the Skull Kid from the equation... we'd have all the time in the world to look for Kafei."

"You mean... you could take me back with you?" Anju asked, her eyes suddenly hopeful.

"Yes," Link said, remembering the first time he had revealed all of this to her. Then, she'd claimed she would never go back in time, afraid that she'd leave the Kafei of that time line behind to die under the moon. He wondered what was changing her mind, and thought the Skull Kid actually being as direct a threat as he was now might have something to do with it. The atmosphere of terror that had gripped the town in the short hour was very powerful. "At least, I think so. It lets me take Tatl, my fairy, back with me every single time, and everything else I have on my person or am holding on to."

Anju looked away for a moment, taking this in before turning back to Link, her eyes shining now with something that looked like it might be hope. "I must be crazy for believing all of this," Anju began. "Whether or not you're telling the truth, you have to imagine how it all sounds to me."

Link nodded, smiling slightly. "I know what you mean."

"But I... have to believe in you. There's nothing else left." Link continued smiling at this, Anju then turning to leave the room. "Just don't let any of the others see you; I'll bring you food, since we have plenty in the kitchen. Let me know when you find out how you plan on handling the... thing outside."

"I will." She then closed the door behind, just leaving himself and Tatl.

"Bringing hope to a town full of doomed people," the fairy commented, flying to be just in front of him now. "At least there's something here to combat the Skull Kid's gloom and doom."

"Thanks, Tatl."

"No, don't thank me," she said, her tone now changing. "As great as you giving people hope is, I don't want you crushing them anymore than they have to be."

"What do you mean?" Link asked, his smile fading and his brow furrowing.

"I mean, nothing upsets me more than some leader giving a bunch of people false hope. Eventually, they'll be let down."

"I meant what I said," Link said. "And besides, aren't you the one who's been convincing me to pucker up and be more hopeful lately?"

"Yes, but that's before you started getting others involved so directly. What are you going to do once you bring Anju back? Drag her along to the mountains with us so she can get eaten by some monster? Leave her in Clock Town while we go and adventure, which now gives us the burden of having to march all the way back here after we're done, versus just playing the Song of Time wherever we are? Plus, she'll have to wait in the constant dread of us not coming back in time all those three days. Also, what if after we play the song there are two of her? Then she won't even have the Stock Pot Inn to wait at."

"We'll figure something out," Link answered, not answering any of her questions directly.

"Do you see how annoying this is?" Tatl exclaimed. "It's always between two extremes with you! Either you're depressed and have given up all hope... or you're plunging into situations head first without thinking about them!"

"I know what I'm doing!"

"**Time's up!**" Link and Tatl both stopped at this voice. It was the voice of the Skull Kid. Once more, it was echoing throughout the entire town, bouncing off of the sealed walls, and even, obviously, entering buildings. "**And our brave hero is no where to be found! I would say I was surprised, but then I'd be lying. You humans have proven to be nothing but spineless, self-absorbed creatures, so I didn't expect any less from our sword-clad fairy boy**."

Link and Tatl stared at one another fearfully, eventually turning towards the window, which happened to be facing in the direction where they knew he probably was. It was angled in a way that did not reveal him, but the two couldn't help but glaring at it frightfully.

Everyone in the town waited in a similar fashion, from whatever hiding place they had found. The streets were completely void of all life, in all four districts of Clock Town, except for one person. The Skull Kid remained floating in front of the clock tower as he spoke, looking down into the plaza where the old woman cradled her dead son. "**And who better to begin our string of sacrifices than the old woman who's already lost everything!**" The imp laughed at this, imaging the horrified faces of the townspeople as they sat and listened, out of sight. He began to float down as he wiped the tears from his eyes, towards the center of the plaza. "**I should be thanked for my generosity; I could take ****someone with years yet to look forward to.**"

As he floated down, the old woman refused to look up, still holding her son's head and staring mournfully at his closed eyelids. Even after the Skull Kid had touched the ground, and landed just in front of her, she still refused to turn. The masked imp, at first, seemed furious at this factor, but then it left when he saw a tear roll down her cheek. It landed in a wet patch on the corpse's face, from where all of the other tears had landed. He tilted his head to the side and began to examine her curiously.

"Are you not afraid to die?" he asked, this time not using whatever amplification spell he'd used earlier, the conversation now merely between the two of them.

"_No_," she breathed softly, shaking. "_If the gods will take me now, then let them. I have nothing left in this world._"

The Skull Kid seemed shocked by this, not sure what to say or do in the given situation. His mind flashed to all of the others he'd killed, to all of the others who'd run away from him, screaming and only calling for their lives to be spared. This was something he had never seen before; the fear of death, so far, had commanded an absolute iron grip over all of his victims, except for this one.

The masked imp turned around to look at the clock. It was now almost 7:01. A whole minute had nearly past, and still, no had died like he said they would. _**You can't stop now. You must keep your word.**_ The mask whispered to him. _**She's just as pathetic as the rest of them. Don't let her tears fool you; the fall for herself, not her son. She's lying.**_ The Skull Kid wasn't sure if he believed in Majora, however.

"_Stop!_" The Skull Kid spun around at this voice coming from behind, in the direction of the clock tower. He did so only to see a spear hurtling directly towards his face; the imp's eyes shot wide open from behind the mask, and he barely dodged it. The spear zipped right passed his ear and landed far off in the background of the plaza; the mask's eyes found the guard responsible, his arm still in the position of having thrown it. Three other guards, all dressed in the same shining armor, all armed with spears, stood behind him.

The guard, realizing he had missed, stood up straight and backed away a few steps, suddenly beginning to shake when the orange eyes now bore on him without breaking away. "You're...," he began, gulping before he continued, "... under arrest, for terrorizing the town." The Skull Kid didn't respond at first, merely standing there and staring, the other guards silent behind the one now unarmed. Then, the masked imp simply laughed, the first guard even more frightened by this, the others allowing their eyes to narrow into thin slits of rage.

Another spear was thrown. The Skull Kid stopped laughing just in time to catch it in midair, redirecting it with ten times as much force to fly directly threw the chest of the guard who had thrown it. This guard buckled to his knees, his mouth wide open in shock as blood shot out from his back. The third and fourth ones, the only two with spears left, ran forward at him and charged with their weapons held forward. The Skull Kid, with a single swipe of his arm, had both of them engulfed in purple fire. The masked imp then turned to the last remaining guard, who had thrown the first spear.

"Wait... please!" he began, backing away slowly and holding up his hands. The Skull Kid shot out his arm violently and without breaking his stare; the guard went flying quickly through the air from the invisible force that resulted. His head slammed into the pole of one of the shopping stalls, his neck breaking instantly, the guard falling limply several feet away from the pole that had done the killing.

The Skull Kid then flew into the air without looking back at the old lady, who peered up at the two guards running around on fire in horror, a third one lying on the floor moaning as he bled to death, spear still in his chest. The masked imp flew to be in West Clock Town, looking up and down the alley of buildings to see no one. He then flew up to one in particular and unleashed a torrent of fire. The building exploded, flames bursting through the windows, the entire structure rattling on its foundations. Screams could be heard from within, them belonging to a variety of age groups. The imp then regained his altitude, looking down at the now burning building to make sure no one escaped. No one did.

"**Your first sacrifice is complete, oh noble green-hatted warrior!**" He exclaimed this once again in the amplified voice all in Clock Town could here, as he returned to his position in front of the clock tower. "**I hope you're content with the family hiding in West Clock Town, as well as the four guards who came to their defense. I'm ready to end the blood bath when you are, but will continuing slaying as many as you wish!**" And then he held his hands out from far above to hover over those screaming as they died, their voices now suddenly echoing throughout the entire village as well.

Link and Tatl could only stare in terror at the window that showed them nothing, the sounds of the dying ringing in their ears. "It...," Link began, the fairy turning in concern to face him. He was choked in disbelief, his eyes beginning to water. "It was a whole family. He said only one." Link then continued to cry silently, the fairy flying to rest on his shoulder consolingly.

* * *

The sky was still gray, the horse and her master walking carefully across the rocky path. To the left, the mountain sloped upward steeply; to the right, the path ended at a massive cliff, the drop downward long and unforgiving. The blonde-headed teen, with his green hat and tunic, sword, shield, and belt adorning him, bags carrying his many other items tied around his saddle, held onto the reins carefully, leading the horse at a steady pace forward. Epona was used to these sorts of dangerous expeditions, but he reasoned it was best to be careful. He imagined himself falling off of the cliff, only for himself and his horse to die at the bottom; would they think he'd left them, or come to accept that he'd probably died?

The clouds had stopped grumbling an hour or so ago, Link looking up to see the sun threatening to tear through the thinning veil of cover. It had been a day since he'd left Kakariko Village and said good-bye to Anju; after paying the gorons a visit, he was now nearing the other side of the perilous mountain range Death Mountain was apart of. There were forests on the other side, and he'd reasoned this was the best place to begin his search for Navi- if that really was what he was looking for. Over the course of the day, Link found his mind constantly reverting back to Hyrule, which any step now he would be leaving, as somewhere after the highest peak of the mountain range marked the northern border. However, when he'd been there, he had only been able to think of Navi; what was it that he wanted? Link wasn't sure, but knew that he had to keep pressing forward.

His mind then went to his stomach; it had been several hours since he had eaten, and Link decided the next time the narrow pathway widened, he would stop. It didn't take too long for this to happen, the steep slope of the mountain retreating far enough for a large, round, flat break from the narrow, inclining pathway on the edge. He lead Epona as far as he could inward, climbing off of her himself and opening up one of the bags. Link pulled out a loaf of bread and one of his containers of water; soon the bucket was filled and the horse began to drink, while the adventurer pulled off a piece of the loaf and sat down, looking out into the brightening afternoon sky.

"Master Link!" After several minutes of restful sitting and eating, this voice came as a complete surprise to him. He recognized it nonetheless; Link turned in the direction he had come from to see the king's personal messenger riding on his own horse. Elegantly adorned as well as his horse, which was highly inappropriate, given the dangerous endeavor riding on these mountains was, he ungracefully made his way towards the recess Link had made it to. Link jumped to his feet and put his bread back into the bag, walking to stand near the end of the path, Epona looking up herself curiously. "His Royal Highness has an urgent message!"

The messenger seemed out of breath, eventually stumbling onto the round platform and sliding off of his horse, panting. "He made you chase me down and hand deliver it?" Link asked, astonished, the two of them now standing across from each other. Upon further examination of the messenger, however, he noticed that whatever was happening was very grave business, his facial expression tense.

"It's... very important, sir," he said nervously. "The king wanted me to tell you in his own words, but I didn't think I'd be able to remember them exactly, so I wrote it down." He then pulled out a roll of paper and handed it to Link. Link looked at the messenger skeptically, then reaching slowly and wrapping his hand around the piece of paper, his heart beating rapidly. He pulled it away and unrolled it, his eyes quickly scanning the page, his mind racing.

Slowly, realization came into his eyes, his expression darkening with each word. "I was afraid I wouldn't reach you in time," the messenger began, looking at Link's changing expression worriedly, the boy in the green tunic refusing to look up and continuing to read, "and I only hope I have, but..."

Link unexpectedly thrust the letter back into the messenger's hands and sprinted to Epona, quickly tying the bag he'd unfastened and jumping on top of her saddle. The king's assistant wasn't sure what to do, Link leading Epona back the way he came, stopping just before he passed the delivery man. "Thank you," he said, his voice shaky. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here." Link then bolted down the path, the horse running as swiftly as she could, her rider now deciding stumbling off the cliff a risk he was willing to take. The messenger looked after him as he disappeared, sighing before turning back to his horse.

It was then that the sun shone brilliantly out from behind the clouds, bearing down on Link and Epona from above as they ran. He was desperate to get as far as possibly as quickly as possible; it had been a day's journey from the castle, but he would have to make it back in double the time if he hoped to make it.

_Please_, Link though pleadingly. _Please don't let this happen. I'll never forgive myself._

"I don't want to leave you," Link said distantly, the Hylian fountain running behind the two of them, the sky in twilight, illuminating the water behind him, and her beautiful face in front of him. "I'm in love with you, Zelda, you come first... but..."

"I know," Zelda interrupted, sparing him the explanation. "Just go Link; go and find her, and you can come back when you have your answers."

"But I thought?..."

"Don't worry about that. I just didn't understand. But if it means this much to you, then you _should_... What?"

"I love you."

And then they kissed, the sky now in complete darkness, the water of the fountain still rushing behind them...

Epona's hoof slipped, and Link snapped out of his trance and pulled quickly on his horse's reigns. Before her top half fell over the edge, Link pulled them both back to safety. They stopped for a moment, Epona and her master panting at the close call. Link looked up into the sky, squinting at the bright sun. Then they pressed onward.

* * *

Link awakened at a knock on the door. He quickly came to and sat up in his bed, looking frantically for his Deku mask as dreams of Hyrule quickly faded, replaced by the reality of his current situation. He was unable to find it in his incoherent state, however, looking up to see Anju step into the room, carrying a tray. Link sighed with relief at her appearance, calming himself and going to sit back on the bed, Tatl stirring on the pillow he'd just risen from.

"Sorry," the innkeeper said, closing the door behind her. "I didn't know you were..."

"It's fine," Link interrupted, disgusted in the fact that he'd been asleep. He turned hateful to face his fairy, but Tatl did not comprehend why he was giving her this expression, herself yawning as her wings stretched outward.

"What's that face for?"

"Why did you let me fall asleep?" Link asked, furious.

Tatl took a moment to understand what he was saying, and then shook her head. "Link, you were really upset. I wasn't about to..."

"People are dying out there!" he exclaimed. Link spun around to face Anju. "What time is it?"

"Five... something," Anju answered. "He only just..." She trailed off, however, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"Five!" Link exclaimed. "That's four more since I... no!" He put his hands to his hand and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. Tatl didn't say anything else, turning to see the innkeeper still standing there with the tray.

"Sorry," she said. "I think this whole situation has put all of us in a... weird... mood..., but you can set it down on the table. Thank you."

"I'm just trying to help," Anju said. "In any way I can."

"I wish I could," Link said, not wanting to look as she set the soup down. "I feel helpless. For Din's sake; I'm hiding!"

"There's nothing else we can do," Tatl reminded him. "We can't stop him right now, and there's no way out so we can _find_ something to stop him."

"Actually...," Anju began, interrupting them, the two both turning to face her instantly. "There is the old sewer system passageway. No one ever goes down there, because of how dangerous it is, but there might be a way out that way. I imagine a few people tried to escape that way when... he came... but they probably didn't make it out alive. No one knows what's down there."

Link's face slowly processed this, and then he scoffed. "I'm such an idiot," Link said, Tatl and Anju not understanding. "On my first cycle here, I traveled through the sewers; if you go the right way, it takes you to the observatory outside of town."

"Really?" Tatl asked. "I didn't know that."

Link, at first appalled by this gap in her memory, remembered that that journey had been with the first fairy, who had died that night. "Me and you... went there after the Great Fairy told me to go there. That was, before..." Tatl understood, nodding, and saving him from having to continue. "I don't understand how that would help, though. Yes, we could get out of Clock Town, but then what? Eventually we'd just run out of time, and we wouldn't be able to play the ocarina."

"We might be able to find something, though," Tatl theorized. "Like I said before, the Skull Kid goes to the mountains whenever he feels weak. Maybe we'll find something there that could stop him."

Link's face brightened, suddenly filled with what he'd given Anju earlier in the day: hope. "It's a pretty big gamble," Link said, shrugging away the feeling.

"But it's still a plan, and the only one we have." The fairy then turned towards the innkeeper. "It won't take us long at all to pack our bags and leave. Would you mind if we checked out?" Anju tried her best to smile at this sarcasm.

"I promise we'll be back before the moon falls," Link said. "Just stay out of the way of the Skull Kid and you'll be fine."

Anju nodded, remembering what the imp had whispered to her, and scared to relay it to Link. Maybe he didn't knew Link was planning to escape through the sewers; maybe he was actually a step ahead of the murderer killing Clock Town's citizens... But she couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the case.

* * *

"That is weird," she remarked, the red-haired dancer in the white leotard pondering what her sister had said. The other one was dressed similarly, except hers was outlined in red, while the other blue.

"I know, Marilla," the sister with red outlines said, pacing back and forth across the hotel room. "She keeps disappearing into that room, without ever once coming in here! And I know her mom and grandmother are downstairs. Who could be in the Knife Chamber?"

"It's none of our business, Judo," remarked one of the two town jugglers in red, lying on the top of one of the four bunk beds in the room.

"It's _all_ of our business as long as the masked kid is killing us off!" the sister in red retaliated. "She's hiding something."

"For once, my brother is actually making sense," the other juggler in blue said, from the bed beneath his brother. "We shouldn't make enemies out of each other; let's just hide it out until..."

"Until what?" Judo exclaimed. "We're all dead? No! I'm taking matters into my own hands."

"Calm down," Marilla, the sister in the blue-outlined leotard, said, unfolding her arms and coming off from leaning against the wall. The room was beginning to darken as the sky outside did, the man with the music box lighting the candle on the single table in the room, which he was sitting at, refusing to get involved in the conversation. He, however, did return to turning the box as soon as the candle was lit.

"Calm down?" Judo yelled. "People are dying out there!"

"And Anju's not responsible for it," Marilla said. "We'd be taking you seriously if you were pointing fingers at the murderer in the sky."

"Well, obviously _he's_ the immediate cause, but..."

"But what, Judo?" her sister began. "What are you accusing the woman who took us in and let us hide of?"

"I... will you _stop_ playing that stupid music, Guru-guru!" Judo suddenly snapped at the small, bald man with the music box. "I swear, I'm going to throw that thing against the wall!"

"Sorry...," the man said weakly, taking his hand off of the handle and sighing.

"I'm going to figure things out for my self," Judo then said, after a moment's silence, walking towards the door. "You four have all the fun you want sitting around and waiting to die." No one in the room thought it necessary to stop her; she opened the door to their large room only a sliver. She peered through down the hallway in the direction the Knife Chamber, watching the closed the door and knowing Anju had just slipped inside with a tray of soup.

It was only a few moments before the door opened and the innkeeper stepped out, this time without the tray. Judo furrowed her brow and waited for the innkeeper to disappear down the staircase, before she fully opened the door and began to walk down towards the room in question. She tip-toed quietly on the hard-wood floor, her extraordinary dancing skills allowing her legs to pull her forward without making a sound.

Eventually, she reached the door, to see that it had not been shut completely. Judo waited there for a moment, having heard voices inside from a little bit further down: a young man's and a woman's. The dancer, stealthily, pulled the door opened slightly and peered inside. The room, darkened as hers had by the sky fading into night, saw the blonde-haired boy in the room, illuminated by his fairy. It didn't take long for her to see the pointy, green hat and the tunic. She gasped, quickly returning the door to its initial position before she was noticed, running back down to her room and flinging the door open, stumbling in.

"Anju's hiding the boy the imp's looking for!" Judo exclaimed, covering her mouth when she realized what she'd said, and closing the door.

"What?" Marilla said, Guru-guru and the two jugglers turning to face her as well.

"I saw him!" she said, softer this time. "He was sitting on the bed on the far end of the room... talking to his fairy! He had the hat... and the hair... and the tunic..."

"Are you sure?" Marilla asked, all of their faces worried.

"Yes!" Judo said. "Now come on, let's go find some people to help us drag him to the clock tower."

"What?" the jugglers both inquired simultaneously.

"He had weapons! We can't do it on our own." No one moved or said anything, however. Judo's expression slowly spiraled into that of confusion, not understanding why everyone in the room wasn't jumping to her cause. "Fine! I'll go on my own!"

And then she left the room, slamming the door behind her as she ran from the Stock Pot Inn into the East Clock Town plaza.

* * *

Replies to anonymous reviewers:

LCsentinel: Yes, though the Latin sounds a lot cooler! And thank you; I look forward to writing those parts as well.

HeRuns: As cool as sprouting wings and flying across the country would be, haha, I actually don't think I'm going to put in the Song of Soaring. Doing so would ruin a lot of future plot development, mainly because it provides them an easy way out from situations otherwise much more foreboding. Such as this one. Right now, I want the Song of Time to remain their only way to permanently escape situations, mostly because it can't be used nearly as frequently or haphazardly.


	23. Stained Tabula Rasa, Part 3

_Chapter 23: Stained Tabula Rasa, Part 3_

Link continued walking forward, his boots damp against the stone floor, in complete darkness, were it not for his fairy floating by his side. He went until he reached another fork in the passageway, looking into the black depths of each direction, both indistinguishable from one another. Walking through the sewers had brought back memories of the first Tatl; she'd saved him from Skulltulas that had suspended his helpless Deku scrub self in spider webs.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Tatl asked.

"Yes," he answered, taking one of the two. The vast majority of their journey had been made in silence, both unable to rid their minds of the terrible things that had happened that day. The screams of the dying; the Skull Kid trapping all within their walls; the deserted streets. On their way through the sewer, they had passed one corpse being dragged by a Skulltula around a corner. Link and Tatl recognized him as one of the stall owners in East Clock Town. They had been able to avoid any encounters of their own, and had made it up the ladder in the large square room to enter the network of hallways leading to the observatory.

"I'm still not sure if this is the right thing to do," Link finally said, his mind constantly going back to the Skull Kid floating in front of the clock face, the tower behind it ticking away the time left until the next sacrifice.

"You know, Link, despite how irrational you can be sometimes, I admire how determined you are to always do the right thing," the fairy said. "But that doesn't change the fact that this is the only thing we _can_ do right now. I know it's probably not the right thing to just let those people die, but the only way to save them in the long run is by... walking through these dark tunnels."

"You know, Tatl," Link began, mocking the way Tatl had begun her remark, "despite how reasonable and cautious your arguments turn out, they usually don't end up getting us anywhere. It's not until I do something stupid that anything important ever happens." The fairy turned back to her companion to see him smiling to himself, Tatl happy to see this expression, it now increasingly rare.

"I've taught you well," Tatl smirked. "Before this adventure's finally over, your sarcasm will be as dry and cynical as mine."

* * *

A group of people, with several wielding torches, began to make their way towards the Stock Pot Inn. The gathering was composed of exactly twenty-four villagers, Mutoh, the head carpenter, and Judo leading the group. Mutoh, being the largest man in the entire fortification, had been one of the few chosen to carry a guard's spear. Before deciding to make their way to the hotel, they'd made a point to raid the town armory; most of the weapons had already been taken, but no guards had been there to stop them from taking what was left. Three other larger men had been put in charge of the others remaining. Judo carried one of the torches, her footsteps quick beside Mutoh's. She was shivering slightly in the cold of the night in her leotard, but was ignoring this factor, now intent upon her destination.

"What all did he have on him?" Mutoh asked gruffly, his eyes relaying the eagerness with which he was now taking the opportunity to do something.

"I only saw a sword and shield," Judo replied, "but he could have had more in his bag."

"We'll have to be careful," Mutoh said, shaking his head once another thought crossed his mind. "What a bastard. He brings some monster into town, and hides from it, letting the rest of us pay."

"And Anju hid him!" the dancer exclaimed, outraged. "I thought better of her. Ever since Kafei ditched her, she's never been the same."

"That's what she gets. It's not healthy to be that infatuated with someone else; to be married is merely a woman's place, to raise a family. Love is a fool's game." Judo turned to the carpenter hatefully at this statement, but he never saw this expression, the dancer deciding to turn away and not press the matter present. They'd reached the door.

Mutoh knocked heavily on its wooden surface. "Open up!" There was no response, and the townspeople waited silently behind them, the flickering light of the fire they held illuminating the plaza. "We know you're hiding him! Hand him over, or we're taking him ourselves!" Still... no response. He turned the doorknob to find it locked, and smiled. A violent struggle was what he'd hoped for.

He flung his whole body into the door, it budging inward slightly and creaking at the hinges.

"Open the door!"

"Let us in!"

"Give us the fairy boy!"

"You can't hide!"

"It's his fault they're dead!"

The villagers began to shout as many joined in with breaking down the door, raising either a torch or a fist angrily into the air. It wasn't long at all before the door flew off of its hinges and landed into the lobby, Mutoh and two other men stumbling into the room, catching their balance before they fell. The room was empty, no one behind the desk or in the kitchen revealed through the doorway behind it. Judo quickly walked in behind the men, the others waiting outside in the doorway, trying their best to peer around the shoulders of whomever was in front of them.

"Anju!" Mutoh shouted into the apparently deserted hotel. "Where is he?"

"We don't need her!" Judo yelled. "He's up here!" The young woman in the white, red-outlined leotard took the lead, turning to go up the staircase with her torch held high to light the darkened hallways. It was only a short journey down the hallway before she reached the door to the Knife Chamber, the villagers angrily yelling for the person they'd come for, or else the innkeeper, all now lined up behind her. The door to the larger room further down opened as Judo pounded on the room they'd come to raid, Marilla peaking her head out, her face aghast.

"Judo!" she exclaimed, exiting the room to confront her sister banging on the Knife Chamber door.

"Open up!" Judo explained.

"Step aside," Mutoh grumbled, the dancer obeying as the carpenter began to break down this locked door as well.

"You brought a mob to raid the hotel!" Marilla exclaimed, now right next to her sister, still having to yell over the noise of the angry townspeople.

"We had to, sis!" Judo said, her eyes turned to look at the door beginning to cave in. "He's killing us off, and not one by one, like he said."

"And you honestly think he's going to leave once you hand this boy over?" the sister said bitterly. "He's probably the only chance we have of stopping the murderer."

"Then he shouldn't have gone into hiding like a coward."

The door to the Knife Chamber flew inward, sailing across the room and landing on the table. It only took a few torches raised and a quick scan of the room to determine that absolutely no one was in there. Mutoh's smile slowly began to fade as he looked back and forth.

"Where is he?" the carpenter exclaimed.

Judo, upon hearing this and noticing that the voices were beginning to die down, turned away from her sister and began to squeeze her way into the room. Eventually, she stumbled in, her eyes wide, unable to find the fugitive. "He was...," she began, trailing off. "Right there." Mutoh and the others in the front turned to her, Judo only able to meet their gaze in confusion.

It didn't take long, however, for Judo's expression to turn into anger once more. "Anju!" she exclaimed. The dancer pushed her way through the crowd of people back into the hallway, making her way to the staircase and beginning to travel down it. However, she stopped, when she saw the innkeeper waiting at the bottom. She was standing just beside the larger, middle-aged woman looking very similar. Anju looked up with fear in her eyes, the mother much more angry.

"_What are you doing in our hotel?_" the mother exclaimed, furious as she took a few steps forward, leaving her daughter at the bottom of the staircase to be face to face with Judo.

"I have a room checked out," the dancer replied dryly.

"Not anymore!" the mother exclaimed. "You take your deranged mob of lunatics and get out!"

"We're not leaving until your daughter tells us where he is," Judo demanded, raising the torch she'd kept by her side, as if to intimidate.

"Who?" the mother gasped. She turned to look down at her daughter, who found it hard to return her gaze. The rest of the mob watched eagerly at the events taking place from behind Judo, Mutoh at the top of the staircase and tall enough to see over all of the heads. "Are you...," the mother began, turning to face Judo once more, "implying that my daughter is hiding whatever person that serial killer outside is looking for?"

"No, I'm flat out accusing her!" Judo exclaimed, making to step passed the mother to confront Anju. "I saw her catering to him while he hid in the Knife Chamber!" Anju's mother, however, pushed Judo forcefully back up the staircase, the dancer quickly turning to face her in disgust.

Anju's mother opened her mouth to argue back, but it was her daughter that spoke next, taking a step to go further up the staircase.

"You're right," Anju said, looking down and taking a deep breath before looking up to continue, all eyes now on her. "I hid him. But not from you; from the killer outside." When no one said anything, all shocked by this statement except Judo, who stood smiling. "But I did it because he's the only one that can stop... the Skull Kid, as he's called. He plans to wipe out everyone in the town, and if we turned Link in, then we'd be helpless to stop him."

"Link?" Judo exclaimed, now pushing passed the mother, who stood speechless. "So you're on a first name basis with the guy now! What is he, your lover? Your new Kafei? You can't stop swooning for every man that comes to your doorstep with big promises, can you?"

"No!" Anju yelled back, bringing her hands down from being in front of her as she now stood firm. "I'm not swooning for him; he proved to me that he's the only one that can stop that monster with the mask!"

"I'm sure he said that," Judo said, and then, suddenly she stopped talking, her smile widening as another thought occurred to her. "You know what?" She took a few steps closer to Anju, now almost face to face, her smile twisted as the innkeeper's face remained furious. "I bet I know what he said to you. He promised he'd bring you and Kafei back together, didn't he? Said he still loved you, and was waiting for you? You can't get over that man, can you?"

Anju's mother grabbed the dancer by the shoulder now, practically throwing her further up the staircase and away from her daughter, Judo dropping the torch that rolled down the staircase to the bottom. "_Don't you speak to my daughter that way, you bitch!_" Judo gasped at this comment, appalled as she stared back hatefully, mouth now wide open. "Her personal life is none of your business!"

"It is when she's harboring the man whose presence is slaughtering the entire town!" a villager from behind Judo screamed, the young man stepping beside her and coming to her aid.

"Stop!" Anju suddenly yelled, stepping forward to now be beside her mother. "You're playing right into that thing's hands! We can't all be against each other like this. Dragging off anyone to the clock tower is going to solve anything!"

"I say we drag her off to the tower!" someone in the crowd behind Judo yelled, all eyes turning to face Mutoh, standing at the top of the stairs. He, after speaking, began to make his way down, the mob parting to allow him to come to the front. "If you think this Link's plan is so noble, then why don't you join in? You can die for him next."

"Yeah, let's take her instead!"

"If she wants us to let the town keep dying, then she's next!"

"Let's see what she thinks when _her_ life is on the line!"

The crowd began to chime in their support.

Anju's anger began to melt away into fear, as her mother's was now wild with rage.

"_If you lay one hand on my daughter...!_"

"You'll what?" Mutoh inquired, now face to face with the two innkeepers, Judo still by his side, now smiling again. "We're done sitting around and waiting. Give us the boy or give us her!"

"_We're not giving you anyone!_"

Mutoh grabbed the mother's shoulder now, the people behind now screaming madly for blood. She tried to throw him off as he pushed her to the side, but she was unable to, still refusing to give up. The scuffle ended in her tripping, and the mother fell down the stairs to land beside the torch.

"Mother!" Anju exclaimed, bringing her hands to her mouth in shock, turning when she felt Mutoh's hand on her now, the carpenter's face dead set on what he was doing. "No... listen, please!"

"No, you're the one who won't listen!" Mutoh said, Anju yanking herself away from the carpenter and running down the stairs to kneel beside her mother.

"Mom!" she said, reaching down just as she stirred.

"I'm fine," her mother said weakly, shooing her away. "_Just go!_" She pushed her away, Anju stumbling back through the doorway into the hallway just as Mutoh came down the stairs to cut her off from the lobby. Unable to reach the door, Anju turned to run through the hallway encircling the staircase, Mutoh chasing after her, followed by the townspeople, all ignoring the mother lying on the ground. She was incapable of getting to her feet as the people ran passed her, turning, however, when she noticed that the carpet had caught on fire.

"No!" she exclaimed, picking up the torch far too late. She scooted away as the flames on the carpet grew tremendously, the townspeople stopping their run down the stairs as the bottom suddenly became a pit of fire. The mother managed to scoot safely back into the lobby, the mob now half trapped on the stairs and half running after Anju.

Anju, choosing between the dead end, kitchen, and desk, chose the last option, diving in and preparing to jump over it towards the front door. Mutoh grabbed her just before she did, however, flinging her down to be just behind the desk, the innkeeper now cowering. "Please!" she pleaded, but he didn't listen, two other villagers helping grab her by the arms in spite of her struggling. They began to lead her back through the hallway before they were stopped, the shouts and cries for Anju turning into shouts and cries over fire.

The carpenter's eyes widened at this, and he went back to go towards the desk, he and his two adversaries dragging the innkeeper with them over the desk and towards the front doorway, open to the cold night. "Help!" Anju exclaimed, in vainly pulling away from those taking her outside, her mom, turning away from the fire at this call.

"_Anju!_" she yelled, but the mother was held back as well by those still inside, the fire beginning to spread. She met her eyes daughters one last time before she was turned away, Mutoh and the two men now running away with her into still night of the deserted East Clock Town.

The mother looked at the fire, the people panicking on the staircase, or else climbing over the desk to run out the door. The two men holding her eventually began making for the outside as well, the heat and smoke levels rising. She looked nervously at the fire, beginning to feel herself tearing; her daughter was gone and her establishment was now in flames, people trapped inside screaming. It was chaos, and even from outside, she looked as people began to file out the door on the second story, Marilla holding it open and yelling inside that there was another way out. Smoke was bellowing from the door, however, Anju's mother powerless to do anything as she was lead away from her home, turning to see Anju struggling as she was lead around the corner into South Clock Town.

* * *

Link and Tatl were walking silently through the sewers when they heard the Skull Kid's voice again. It had been only a few minutes since their last conversation, and Link knew that the observatory was only a few turns away. However, as the imp's voice continued, he stopped at the mention of someone's name, his eyes suddenly wide, Tatl gasping.

"**I don't know where you are**," the voice said, reverberating even through the underground stone tunnels, "**but I felt it necessary to... admit something. I'm not usually one to reveal when I'm caught off guard, but I must say: you have completely shocked me. I knew you were spineless. I knew you were a coward. Because all humans are. But to let the innkeeper, this Anju, as the townspeople chant, die for you next?**"

"No...," Link breathed to himself, shaking his head, having instantly stopped at the mention of her name.

"Link," Tatl began, as his eyes began to shine, still staring ahead at the passage he knew would take him to Shikashi, "I know what you're thinking, but..." She knew it would be useless, though; before she could even finish her first sentence, Link spun around on his heels and began sprinting back the way he came. "No!" The fairy yelled, turning around and watching as he ran. "Your doing exactly what he wants you to! He'll kill you!"

Link no longer cared, staring ahead intently, flying around corner after corner without any thoughts arising to question his current actions. Tatl sighed, shaking her head. "Ah, Link. Now what are we going to do?" She was talking to herself, now alone, but soon she flew after him, knowing it would be the only way to catch up in time.

"**I expected more of you. Not that I expected you to stop me, but I did hope for you to at least stand tall for those you loved, when I struck you down. But no. You don't love her, do you? You lied so she would hide you. You told her you could find her lover for her, when you knew you couldn't. When you knew he was already dead. You looked her in the eyes and lied through your teeth, and are now prepared to let her join those who have died for you**."

The Skull Kid's voice rung in his ears, and as much as the words tore at him, no tears came. Link was staring forward angrily, his mind passed reason. He imagined Anju in the plaza, wondering if she believed the lies the masked imp now spun. _Not this time_, Link thought to himself. _I'm not going to be too late. Please, don't let this happen._

And then, his mind flashed back to riding his horse across the Death Mountain trail, leaning forward as his horse's hooves plowed against the rock floor and propelled them forward. _Please don't let this happen. I'll never forgive myself_. The sun was shining behind him as he went forward swiftly, the flashback now playing across his mind for the third time as he ran. _I'm coming, Anju_. But the name was Zelda as he rode Epona towards Hyrule.

"**You've managed to turn the whole town against her. They dragged her and her mother here, and burned the hotel to the ground. They asked me to kill Anju. They told me to slaughter the traitor that had hid you. I, a merciful sorcerer... am merely fulfilling what it is they ask of me. You've caused her closest friends to all turn against her. I wonder if you've made it to the observatory by now. At least she has her mother to pity her, when she dies. When she fades away into nothingness. When her consciousness, her trust in you and her love for Kafei, all of her hope... are forever in oblivion.**"

Link's boots could carry him no faster, and neither could Epona's legs. He reached the ladder as his mind continued reeling, revealing to him the past he had forgotten, the memories he had repressed. As his feet went down the ladder, Epona bullet-ed through Kakariko Village. As he ran through the large, square room, a Skulltula on the side watching as he passed, Epona was traveling through the town gate. She galloped across Hyrule field as Link spun around the corner and began running to the left alongside the sewer water. Tatl flew out of the passageways over the ladder just behind him.

"**I don't even have to ask whether or not you've ever mused over death. All humans are afraid of it. The idea of not existing is too much to handle. You repress it. You cower behind ignorance. You convince yourselves there's something waiting for you afterward, as if the universe was made just for you.**"

He leapt across the water, jumping from platform to platform across the breaks in stone. Epona ran across the drawbridge into the marketplace, the guards turning to watch as the Hero of Time flew passed.

"**But the gods cannot help you. Nayru, Din, and Farore are nothing. Even they are powerless against it. Darkness, is the only reality. I, Majora, am the embodiment of that darkness. The light you cling so desperately to is always fading fast. All have darkness in their hearts, even without a black mark to remind them.**"

Link was now running up the slope towards the entrance into East Clock Town. The horse and her master were approaching the castle. He felt the feel of her lips on his, the noise of the fountain behind them, the cool sky fading into night. Link's blue eyes shone brightly with his past as he leapt in front of the mayor's office, now almost running down the staircase into the lower half of the plaza.

"**This is proven to me time and time again. The villagers overcame their love for Anju to drag her to her death. And you were able to feign such emotions in order to use Anju, already crushed by the man she loved who left her. I almost feel bad killing her. She's the only one that hasn't embraced the darkness she will now return to.**"

Link stopped for only a moment when the fire came into view. He paused only just after he passed the inn, turning to see fire and smoke towering high into the air, the Stock Pot Inn completely ablaze. The light rose into the dark sky, the moon's wicked face baring down, now closer, as always. Link's eyes then found Tatl, flying down the staircase and towards him, himself turning to complete his journey to South Clock Town.

"_Link, no!_" Tatl exclaimed, the fire roaring beside her as she called out. "_Please don't do this!_"

Link swung himself off of Epona, running through the elegant halls of Hyrule Castle, pushing aside the guard that tried to stop him as he made for a staircase.

"**But none can hide in bliss forever. Her time has come.**"

It was then that the roof supporting the town bell fell, giving into the fire consuming it. The massive, silver instrument plunged inward towards the lobby floor it had once resided over, Tatl spinning around, having almost made it across the plaza. The bell slammed hard into the ground, ringing loudly and echoing across Clock Town as it cracked, forever silenced as the ringing died away and was now engulfed in fire.

Link was now running down the staircase into South Clock Town, appearing around the corner to see several people had gathered in the district. Simultaneously, his mind recalled himself flinging open the door into Zelda's bedroom, his mind replaying with stunning clarity the coolness of the door knob as he turned it.

Tatl turned away from the hotel and followed.

The blonde headed boy in the green tunic suddenly had the clock tower once again in view. The townspeople outside had pushed the wreckage of the smaller, wooden tower aside, and were now surrounding the center of the square, obscuring whatever was there from his view. Some of the villagers still held torches, but all of them were now silent, the mob mentality having died away as the chilling words of the Skull Kid had washed over them. He neither cared nor thought about whether or not they were reconsidering what they had done, realizing the error of their ways; it didn't matter. What had been done could now not be reversed.

Link pushed through those on the outside and began to force himself towards the center of the circle, Tatl appearing around the corner and now in the district. Those pushed aside turned to see him, shocked at his appearance and taking only a moment to recognize him, brought out of the trance the masked imp had had over them.

"Is that...?"

"It's him!"

"What was his name...?"

"... Link?"

Link quickly made it to the enclosed circle, which was very large. The torches that were lit illuminated what was there. There was only thing present in the center, and it was a single person. Anju had her wrists bound, the ropes tying her to two heavy pieces of wreckage that had been impossible to move. She was on her knees, staring down into the ground as she was shaking, unable to control the tears that were falling. Tatl watched all from above, unable to push through the people and hovering from a safe distance.

Link stopped as soon as he entered the circle, Anju raising her head in response to the villagers outbursts, which then fell silent. Their eyes met, from across the plaza, the torchlight shining down on them.

"Link," Anju said, shaking her head. "I..." But she never finished her sentence. The ground simply exploded at her feet, sending her high into the air as the ropes binding her wrists disintegrated. Link's eyes widened in horror, still standing where he'd only just broken the ring of people.

"_No!_" He screamed in vain, only able to watch as she fell back down to the ground limply, appearing to be only a rag doll. It was then that the image of himself approaching the large bed in Zelda's bedroom presented itself; he walked slowly, already crying before he came to see the still, cold face of his beloved, having fallen victim to the fatal disease the letter had revealed caught hold of her. Then Anju was sprawled across the ground, the Skull Kid coming down from in front of the clock face, down towards the circle where the unspeakable had just occurred.

Link looked up just in time to see the masked imp, who had begun to draw his arms back and prepare yet another spell. He drew his weapons just as violet flames left the imp's hands; Link lifted his Hylian shield as the fire reached him, it bellowing off of its surface and sending his feet sliding backwards several inches. The villagers surrounding the scene fled as soon as the fire appeared, now only fearing for their lives, Anju lying unattended underneath her attacker. Tatl's eyes scanned the scene to find, aside from Anju, the imp, and Link, the only other person not fleeing: Anju's mother. She lay on her knees sobbing, as if she hadn't noticed the battle beginning just beside her, her eyes only finding her daughter.

Link, from behind the shield, quickly pushed aside all emotions capable of hindering him. As sweat broke out on his forehead from the fire just in front of him, the images of Zelda lifeless and Anju spiraling through the air faded. They were now replaced with a single-minded determination to put an end to the monster responsible for so much suffering. The hand holding the sword slipped into his bag as his right remained busy holding the fire off of him; it found the bow, himself notching an arrow by bringing it up to his hand behind the shield.

The Skull Kid, having come closer to Link as he continuing blasting his fire, stopped, now only several feet away from him. As soon as he did, an arrow shot out from behind the shield protecting Link; this caught the imp completely off guard, it landing directly in the center of Majora's Mask.

The Skull Kid froze, his arms and legs shooting out and his eyes widening as if he'd been hit in the heart. Link, bringing his shield down and slipping the bow into his bag, thought for a brief moment that it was over, that striking the mask had won him the battle. This wasn't the case, as the Skull Kid's fingers began to twitch, recovering from whatever had momentarily stunned him. Link, then, spun around, beginning to run away, not knowing what spells would be unleashed upon him if he stayed. The masked imp now boiled with rage, flinging his arms out in the direction of the blonde-headed teen running.

Link was flung forward by the invisible force this created; he slammed into the wall leading into the East Clock Town staircase, his shield leaving his hand. Link then slid down its surface and landed at its base, not daring to retrieve his shield as he scrambled to his feet and ran for the staircase, putting his sword back in his scabbard. All of this was accomplished as the Skull Kid continued to shake angrily, grabbing the arrow lodged in his mask and throwing it to the ground. He then flew after Link, who was now running up the staircase into the east district, the games now over.

Tatl, after watching Link and the Skull Kid disappear around the corner, now looked down to see Anju and her mother left deserted. The later had gone to the former's side, Anju stirring only slightly amidst the red that now adorned her crippled body. "_It'll be okay_," the mother whispered, holding the innkeeper's wrist, which was beginning to lose all color, knowing this was not the case. The fairy then left the two the themselves, flying after her companion now running for his life.

Link was halfway towards the staircase into the upper half of East Clock Town when the imp rounded the corner. The Stock Pot Inn was still ablaze, but he ignored this, sprinting for the stairs beside the fire. The Skull Kid stopped when presented this view, beginning to perform a series of motions with his arms in midair, flinging them outward to command the ground beneath him. The stone split open, widening into a gorge that tore straight through with ridiculous speed, threatening to break open underneath Link. Before this happened, hearing the ground falling from behind him, Link dove to his left towards the Deku flower he was passing, the spell turning to follow him. He applied the mask and dove into the flower, shooting out just as the ground opened underneath the plant, absorbing it and ripping it to pieces.

Link removed the mask and returned to his human form as he traveled through the air, the momentum from the flower still carrying over into his transformation. Arcing in front of the burning building, he barrel-rolled to catch himself on the other side, not stopping as he continued to run up the staircase. The Skull Kid didn't waste time upon this defeat, firing a massive ball of purple fire in his direction and continuing after him without pause.

Link dove from the dark magic as soon as he was able to, doing so in the direction of the sewer system. The fire crashed into the mayor's residence, it now ablaze along with the hotel, the colors of the fires contrasting. The boy continued into the pathway sloping downward into the earth, not losing speed on the inclined ramp. The masked imp reached the mouth of the entrance before Link had completed his journey through the tunnel, releasing large amounts of fire into it.

It traveled quickly, bouncing off of the stone as if it was going through a chute. It exploded out just as Link exited the tunnel, rolling to his right as the fire burst outward and expanded into the flat, darkness of the beginning of the sewer system. Link was unable to stop even then, running to approach the islands of stone platforms scattered across the first of the pools of sewer water. He began hopping across those as the Skull Kid descended into the tunnel after him. With each leap his breathing got harder, Link's heart racing as he fled.

As soon as the imp had entered the underground with him, he found Link almost to the other side. He shot out his arms and sent a thin disk of fire that cut low through the air, it flying over the water much quicker than Link had been able to. The imp followed behind it, not allowing for the possibility of Link evading another attack to grant him a time advantage. The green-clad youth dove into the water, it passing over and missing. Now under the water, he kicked his feet and rose to the surface, jumping out of the water and climbing over onto the stone, now successfully on the other side.

He bolted to the left now, knowing that up on the right would soon be the large room with the ladder. A Skulltula climbed out of that doorway just ahead of him, baring its teeth at the approaching potential meal. Link completely ignored it, hearing from behind another ball of fire being conjured. The spider reared its legs as the boy approached, as if hoping for a battle; it was let down, however. Link rolled passed it into the next room, the Skulltula turning just in time to be barbecued by the purple fire intended for Link.

Link, now in the large, empty, square room, began to slow his running when he came to a realization. The only way out of the room was the beginning of the hallway system on top of the ladder; before then, there was plenty of empty space that would have to be crossed. Even if Link could make it to the ladder in time, he understood climbing it would be an impossibility. He was trapped, and there was no where to hide. There was no corner to dodge behind, and no time to play the only song that had offered him escape before.

It was for this reason that his footsteps slowed, only making it to the center of the room when the Skull Kid flew through the doorway and appeared inside. The masked imp smiled, taking in his advantage instantly; he began twirling his fingers around, lightning beginning to form. Link heard the electricity from behind, and he stopped walking entirely, now simply standing there, staring at the ladder he knew he would never reach.

He turned around just as the lightning left the imp's fingertips. It shot across almost instantaneously, Link struck directly where his black mark was. He was lifted off of his feet and continuing sliding backwards even after he'd hit the ground, but the feeling was nothing like it had been the first time. Link, now lying on the floor, felt as if a massive amount of energy was now circulating through his veins, desperately trying to find a way out. It was not at all painful, as it had been the first time, feeling more as if the attack fired at him had been absorbed. He lay on the floor shivering, his body sizzling, the scar on his chest the hub through which all of these feelings occurred.

Then Link's consciousness was suddenly up into the air, looking at himself screaming on the ground from up above. It took him only a moment to realize he was looking through the Skull Kid's eyes, who was observing the situation intently and curiously. He, therefore, felt the imp's bafflement as Link began to slowly and shakily get to his feet, the out of body experience mind-numbing, his body acting on its own accord. The fear, however, came when his head lifted and Link met his own eyes; each one was merely a glowing purple ball of light, no iris or pupil distinguishable.

The possessed, purple-eyed Link then straightened his body, seeming to have overcome the effects of the lightning, still visibly circulating through him. Through the Skull Kid's eyes, Link watched in equal horror as he watched himself raise his arm, only to point his fingers in the direction of the masked imp. And so, as the lightning left his own fingertips, it, from his perspective, seemed as if he was striking to kill himself. For that brief period of time, the Skull Kid and Link shared the same state of mind, both afraid of Link's body, a puppet to the dark magic.

The attack was as instantaneous as always, Link returning to his own body as soon as the lightning left his hand, blinking for his eyes to reopen once again human and blue. The purple energy struck exactly where it had struck Link; the masked imp twirled through the air as limply as Anju had, having been completely unprepared for anything of the sort to happen. His back slammed into the wall far above the doorway he came in through. A dry cough was forced out of him from the impact, and then he fell headfirst downward, his body spinning. Link watched in disbelief as the imp was unable to stop his fall; the Skull Kid crashed onto the floor, now lying on his stomach motionless.

As soon as this had happened, Link shakily brought the arm down he had never rose, feeling as if some deep sensual urge had been satisfied. Redirecting the dark magic back at the Skull Kid had felt _good_, the scar at the center of his chest the source of such feelings. He nervously reached to touch it, but it was sore, drawing his hand back quickly. Internally, however, it could not have felt more satisfying. This, more than anything else, was what scared him most about what had just happened. The image of himself, eyes glowing, capable of performing the magic the Skull Kid could, haunted him; it had been out of his control, the same as it had during the forest fire.

Then, he came back to his present situation, looking up to see the Skull Kid still lying on the floor. There he was, the enemy that had stricken the town with so much fear, lying completely defenseless, the only noise in the room Link's own deep breathing. Link wondered if the Skull Kid was dead, and decided it was best to make sure. Deciding to assess the implications of what had just happened later, he drew his sword from his scabbard and began to walk towards his fallen foe.

It was then that the Skull Kid pushed himself up from lying on the ground, looking up at Link weakly, who froze where he was standing as soon as this happened. The masked imp, his eyes darting to the sword in Link's hand, quickly lifted off the ground, though doing so crouched over holding his chest, huddling over the injury feebly. The Skull Kid then turned around, flying away swiftly despite his crippled condition, back through the doorway and towards East Clock Town.

Link stood in the middle of the room in disbelief, sword still in his hand.

Moments later, Tatl peered around the doorway the imp had just flown out of; she did so tentatively, as if afraid of what she might find. When she saw Link standing in the middle of the room, by himself, with his sword drawn, she flew to enter the room just barely. "Link?" she inquired nervously. "Is that you?"

Link looked over to her grimly, the question shunning away any good feelings he'd had over seeing his fairy again. "Who else would it be?" Link asked, his voice not as weak as he'd hoped it would be. The incident had done more than just not harm him; it had _revitalized_ him.

"I... don't know," Tatl said, beginning to fly over towards her companion and shake her head. "What happened? The Skull Kid, he was all bent over and hurt... and flew passed me without saying anything."

Link opened his mouth, but then closed it again, looking back down at the ground. Tatl was still across the room from him, and he realized how odd this behavior of hers was. Link understood now that she was afraid of him. "I think you know what happened," he said, looking up to face her once more. Tatl had no response. "The same thing that happened in the forest when I set it on fire. My eyes turned purple, and I shot his lightning back at him and... I... saw it." He closed his eyes, the image of himself still fresh, opening them to continue. "It was terrible. I didn't look human. I was looking through the eyes of the Skull Kid like last time, except... this time he was right across from me."

Tatl still wasn't sure what to say, merely floating there. "Tatl," Link began, shaking his head as he looked away once more. "What's happening to me?"

"I'm... not sure," Tatl finally said, flying to be once more by his side, himself turning to face her.

"You never told me what happened to Dark Link," he suddenly said, remembering his encounter with the dark entity. During it, he'd suddenly seen through the eyes of the masked imp again, and when he'd come back to himself, the enemy had been gone.

"Let's not talk about that right now," Tatl said. "Anju's outside and still alive, but I'm not sure for how much longer..."

"Anju!" Link exclaimed, instantly running to leave the sewer system at the mention of her name. The boy stopped, however, when he realized Tatl wasn't following. He turned over her shoulder to look at the fairy, who, upon seeing his expression, went to join him.

* * *

"_Sh, sh_," Anju's mom said softly, stroking her daughter's hair loving. Anju still laid on the ground of the plaza, looking up into the starry sky with her mouth slightly agape. Her eyes had not ceased watering, and her breathing had begun to grow troubled, an awful concavity to her chest visible from underneath her shirt. Blood stained the stone as well as her clothing and legs, but her face, remained practically unblemished. The night was still with only the noise of the dying fires in East Clock Town; all of the villagers had either never stopped running after the Skull Kid had begun attacking Link, including Judo and Mutoh, or now stood off to the side, staring sadly at the scene of the innkeeper and her mother.

"I'm scared," Anju said softly, her gaze still directed towards the sky. "What if it's just like he said... oblivion?"

"No," Anju's mom said softly, crying herself, but not allowing her voice to sound broken or choked. "Don't believe anything he said. He wants everyone to feel afraid, even if he has to lie."

"He told me he would kill me," Anju said, her voice breaking due to her crying and fading strength. "I didn't think it could actually happen, but it did."

"_Sh_," Anju's mom whispered again, kneeling just beside her. "You're here with me now still; that's all that matters." Her mother turned away only when she noticed someone approaching them out of her peripheral. It was Link and his fairy, Link having just stopped his run as he turned the corner into South Clock Town, his eyes finding the innkeeper lying still where she had fallen.

Link's eyes found Anju's mother, who looked at him sadly and then turned away. The boy approached hesitantly after this, the mother not stopping him. When he'd reached his fallen friend, Link knelt down as her mother was, Anju's watery eyes turning to find his.

"Hi," Link said softly, his eyes bright as they beheld her current state.

"Link," Anju said, with what might have been intended as an exclamation. "You came back."

"Of course," he said, nodding.

"Did you... stop him?"

"Yes, I did. He won't be hurting anyone anymore."

"That's... good." Anju then turned away from him and looked back into the sky. "I knew you weren't lying. I knew I could believe in you."

Link found his reaction to this statement hard to control; his expression relayed that of only the deepest grief, and he barely managed to stop himself from beginning to cry. "I'm just sorry I was too late."

"But you weren't," Anju said, turning back to face him, her countenance becoming increasingly more childlike as the end drew closer. "You came back." Link nodded, beginning to scan the wounds present to realize there was no hope. "But... Kafei." His eyes went back to hers at the mention of this name, the mom looking up as well. "I wanted to... see him. Aren't you going to go back now? Aren't you going to find him still?"

The first tear then rolled down Link's cheek, and he nodded his head in response. "I promise. Some how, in some place or time, I will bring you and Kafei back together again, whatever it takes. And then when I do bring you two together, you'll be able to get married and stay that way... forever." His hand held Anju's as he said this now, her grip on his own fading even as a smile spread across her face, her eyes still filled with tears and glossy.

"Will I... know?" Anju asked, the words hardly a whisper, as she turned away and looked back into the sky. "Will I feel it? Will I get to see him? Or am I... gone now? It'll be some other, new me, won't it? I'll still be dead."

Link wasn't sure what to say to this question, himself no longer able to hold back his crying. "You'll know," Link said, his blue eyes shining. "Somehow, you'll know."

"Good," Anju said, smiling, and then her face went into that of concern, still looking up into the sky. The life left her face soon after, upon which Anju's mom lost all control, resting her head on her daughter's chest and sobbing. Link closed his eyes tightly in response, feeling the hand in his now limp. He let it go, getting to his feet and standing over her now as he cried. Link turned towards her mom, as if having something consoling to say, but he realized he didn't.

The boy then turned around, his face now tear stained as he made eye contact with his fairy. Tatl looked at him sadly, not knowing what there was to say. He instead began walking towards the blank wall where the South Clock Town gate had been, stopping halfway and turning to his fairy once again that had followed him.

"She's dead," Link said after a moments silence, his voice shaking as he said it, his eyes staring off into the distance and still crying.

"I know, Link," Tatl replied sympathetically. "And I'm sorry it had to happen."

"Both of them are," Link said, shaking his head now.

"... What do you mean?"

"Zelda," Link barely managed to get out. "She's dead too."

Tatl's expression turned even sadder at this, not quite understanding.

"When I was running back to try and save Anju," he said, "I remembered running back to the castle after I received a letter. I'd gone to look for Navi, but when I read in the letter that Zelda was dying from some disease, I tried to go back in time... but I was too late." He then sniffled, beginning to try and recompose himself as he wiped tears away with the back of his hand. "When I left after the funeral to start my search for Navi again, I never meant to come back to Hyrule. I left for good, because now... I couldn't, I... _can't_. There are too many memories there, and... I see now why I blocked it out. I'm not sure what happened to send me to Termina, but I know I gladly gave up my memory in the process."

He then turned to face Tatl. "We're going to the mountains, and we're going to free whatever spirit is trapped there. Then we're going to the ocean and canyon and we'll do the same thing. Somewhere along the line, we're going to unite Anju and Kafei and bring them back into the loop with us, and then..." Link trailed off, turning away before looking back at Tatl.

"We're going to destroy it. We're not going to lock it away like the witches did and hope it disappears. Even if we stop the moon from falling, I'm not stopping until that mask is in pieces. Majora is going to die, even if..." Link looked down at the black mark he knew was underneath his tunic before continuing. "... even if I have to go down with it."


	24. Heading North

_Chapter 24: Heading North_

The wooden structure in the center of clock town was once again standing tall, completely intact and still early in its development. The carpenters continued working on it as if it had never fallen, as if they had never gathered around its ruins and called for the blood of their own. The four gates were open, never having been closed, the guards standing tall at each one, never having been struck down by the masked imp. Mutoh was commanding his carpenters, and Judo was pacing the floor in the hotel, both never having tapped their true potential for malevolence. Anju laid in her bed staring at the roof, the wedding dress adorning her mannequin still lying untouched beside her bed, never having heard of the boy who'd held her hand as she died.

As Link stepped out of the clock tower doors, he found these realities sickening. All of the tragedy, heartbreak, and violence that had plagued the previous day, had never happened, and yet those events were still an emotional burden he had to carry. Stepping into the orange, early morning sun just peaking over the horizon, he recalled the screams of the dying, and the Stock Pot Inn burning to the ground. He recalled the ground exploding at Anju's feet, her body rising into the air helplessly, only to come crashing back down in her own blood. He recalled his own eyes glowing purple, possessed by the dark magic embedded in his chest that night atop the clock tower, as he struck to kill what his own point of view perceived to be himself. Only he, Tatl, and the Skull Kid remembered, the fairy by his side the only person in Termina keeping him sane in these maddening loops, these endless processions of faces that would always forget him.

Having somewhere to return had always comforted him, knowing that, outside of this land, Hyrule was still constant, with someone there waiting for him to come back. Now, Zelda was a memory, just as lost as the cycles he had left behind with the Goddess of Time. Link wasn't sure where he was, or where to find a sense of stability. He was lost, this doomed land echoing his past with every turn he made, slowly taking with it all he had left.

"Link? Are you okay?" He turned to look at Tatl, blinking heavily in the sun, and realized he'd been staring off at the busy townsfolk.

"I'll be okay," Link said plainly, his eyes turning to find the purple-haired kid in the fox mask. He seemed to notice for the first time what the boy was doing: going to the South Clock Town postbox. He slipped a letter inside, looking around to see if anyone had noticed, only to find Link's eyes. The two stared at one another for a moment, the child frozen, as if having been caught. Then he sprinted back around to the Laundry Pool staircase, disappearing from view.

"I'm kind of afraid to stand here too long," Tatl persisted, obviously not having noticed the same thing Link had. "The Skull Kid knows where we appear after we play the Song of Time. The sooner he doesn't know where we are, the better."

Link turned away from the entrance to the Laundry Pool, nodding his head in agreement and deciding investigation of that matter would have to wait until later. After having spent part of the second day of the last cycle resting, neither of them were entirely sure how long they had before the imp was once again back. The recovery had been necessary, however, Link feeling the bag at his side to make sure the rope and ice axes he'd acquired, upon further reflection of his journey into the mountains, were there. "To the mountains?" Link inquired, forcing a smile on his face as looked up at his fairy, pushing the image of his beloved from his mind.

"To the mountains," Tatl nodded, returning the smile.

The two journeyed behind the clock tower up the ramps, going through the doorway into the grassy landscape of North Clock Town. As they approached the gate there, Link smiled to himself when he remembered attempting to leave this place stuck as a Deku scrub.

The guard's eyes quickly found his sword and shield as Link approached, and the man in shining armor nodded his head in approval as he passed. "The mountains of Snowhead lie this way. Be careful."

* * *

Link and Tatl were once again in Termina field, except this time the forest was not what lied in the distance. What did instead were the white peaks of Snowhead, towering thousands of feet far off into the horizon. The sky behind them was beautiful, the orange stretching out and bleeding into the dark blue of the waning night. The sun shone brightly from off to the right, hidden behind the Clock Town walls, from where Link was standing. The grass ahead of him only went several hundred feet before it began giving way to flat rock, it then quickly dropping off into a gorge impossible to cross over. On the other side, the land began to elevate, Link deciding he'd have to get to the bottom of the gorge before he could find a way up or through.

He, before beginning, took a moment to take in the beauty, smelling the cold, crisp morning air of the mountains blowing in his directions. "Is there a civilization somewhere in them?" he asked, after a moment of closing his eyes peacefully.

"The gorons," Tatl answered. "They should be a lot friendlier than the Deku scrubs were, and keep to themselves for the most part. I prefer the green of their valleys over the swamp fumes anyways."

Link then began his walk across the remaining flat land as Tatl finished her answer, the fairy flying next to him. "Is that where we should go?" Link asked, remembering his multiple encounters with gorons in Hyrule.

"I'm not sure where else we would," the fairy replied. "I just hope the Skull Kid hasn't done anything like he did to the swamp, with poisoned water and all." She, after a moment of stopping, sighed, as if just having realized something.

"What?" Link inquired, turning in her direction.

"As is customary with the more primitive people, the gorons have also built a massive temple in worship of invisible deities," Tatl said dryly. "I bet my left wing we're going to end up in there."

Link laughed slightly when she said this, shaking his head. "You really don't seem to think all that highly of religion. You don't think the gods appreciate our honoring them?"

"The way I see it," the fairy began, "they're not very good at their job. I mean, there's a giant moon in the sky, if you've forgotten, coming to down to kill everyone in Termina in three days. Meanwhile, we have a murderous, super-powered lunatic chasing after us while we relive the same three days over and over again, to try and stop all this bad stuff from happening ourselves. A little divine intervention would be much appreciated."

"You don't think the Goddess of Time is helping us?" Tatl turned to face Link as he said this, to find his eyes already meeting hers, himself smiling slightly, the two of them still walking.

The fairy turned away and sighed again, before answering. "I'm not sure," she said. "I guess it's not for me to decide whether or not the forces around us are due to gods and goddesses, wanting to be worshiped. What I do know, is that whatever _is_ allowing us to go back in time, be it magic or something else we don't understand, is struggling against the powers of Majora. And I'm not sure it's winning."

Link looked off thoughtfully at this, waiting to process everything she'd said before answering. "I never thought about it that way," he said. "So, do you think there's a Farore, Din, and Nayru? The Triforce is real; I had the Triforce of Courage, and the shard of power really did give Ganondorf unbelievable strength, to rule all of Hyrule for seven years."

"The Triforce?" Tatl inquired.

Link's expression widened at this. "You've got to be kidding me. You've never heard of the Triforce?"

"No, I've heard of it," Tatl defended, "but it's just an old myth around here. I mean, the only thing people here believe in are the four giants. They don't believe they created Termina though; it's said they're its guardians. One in each land. But it's a myth, like the Triforce; no one alive has ever seen them. That's actually what the Carnival of Time is in celebration of; most people don't think about it that way anymore, though. It's just a holiday now."

"Four guardian giants, one in each land?" Link inquired, one eyebrow raised, as if implying something the fairy wasn't seeing.

"Yeah, that's what I said...," she replied uncertainly.

"You don't think that's what that thing in Odolwa's mask was, do you? The spirit? It was pretty big, and if there are four of them, one in each land..."

"Whoa," Tatl started, the connection one she hadn't drawn. "I never thought about that. I've never actually tried to apply that story to anything practical. You might be right."

"So there might be some truth to these myths after all, huh?"

"But they still fail at their jobs," Tatl grumbled. "I mean, the Skull Kid overpowered them all and sealed them away into masks. If they're supposed to be our guardians, why is it we're saving them?"

Link shrugged, realizing she had a point. "I had to save the guardian sages of Hyrule, too, now that I think about it. Navi once said we were just tools of the gods, becoming their way of saving the world. I always had trouble accepting that, but it wouldn't make a difference then, whether it was guardians, sages, or us, would it? If it's always the gods?"

"I'll just agree to disagree with you there," she remarked snidely. "But pushing aside the mythology and the magic, my practical point still stands. What's the point of freeing the giants... the guardians... the deities... whatever you want to call them... if the Skull Kid has already proven he's stronger than them?"

"Maybe they were caught off guard," Link said. "Tael seemed to know what he was talking about, and the Skull Kid did get mad at him as soon as he mentioned them... so that makes me think it was important."

"I guess it is the only lead we have," Tatl shrugged. "And this is all just speculation here; I'm still determined to free the other three spirits. It's the only plan we have, and we can't stop Majora on our own."

"No... we can't," he said in agreement, his mind returning to something that made him stop walking, at the mention of Majora. "Tatl, you still haven't told me what happened to Dark Link."

The fairy stopped her flight as soon as he said this, the two of them now just a few feet away from the gorge. She did not turn around at first, Link's blue eyes staring at her until she turned to face him. Tatl did, eventually, take a deep breath before deciding how to begin. "You haven't already figured it out?"

"Did he...?" Link's eyes and hand went down to the mark on his chest, before looking back up to make eye contact.

"You did exactly what you did in the forest fire," Tatl explained. "At first you looked all nervous, like you were about to faint, and then suddenly your eyes turned purple, and..." She stopped, turning away, as if the memory was difficult to recall. "... You didn't look like yourself. The second you turned... your facial expression was contorted into the deepest malice... you were furious, all of a sudden... I mean, your appearance didn't change or anything, except for your eyes, but you were so... frightening; even Dark Link was scared. You weren't you.  
"As soon as Dark Link saw your eyes changed, he let go of your neck and backed away, but you were too fast. You stood up, grabbed his shoulder, and then..." She stopped, as if unable to find the right words. "... you _absorbed_ him. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Dark Link just started screaming, and... you didn't stop. He went inside of your scar. Then you collapsed back onto the wall and closed your eyes. And Dark Link was gone."

Link looked away as she said this, it exactly what he'd feared. "At first I was afraid that if I talked to you...," Tatl began, "your eyes would open, and they wouldn't be yours. Purple still, or worse, red, now that Dark Link was inside of you. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I don't think it helped with your..."

"... Curse?" Link finished. Tatl didn't respond. "I mean, so far it hasn't exactly been a hindrance; no one died in the forest fire and I've only ever harmed Dark Link and the Skull Kid."

"But there's no reasoning with you when you're in that state," the fairy said. "I tried the first time, but you weren't there. I know you go to see from the eyes of the Skull Kid every time, but your body's still there, moving without your control and with incredible power. What if it decided to do something worse than setting the entire forest on fire? What if you got mad at me one day, and you changed, and then you..." She stopped, as if the thought was too horrifying.

"Don't say that," Link said, walking to be ahead of her and shaking his head. "I already knew all of that, but I won't... I _refuse_ to let it kill you."

Tatl didn't have a response, knowing that he wouldn't have a say in the matter, should the situation ever arise. "Look, we're done talking about that," she said, flying to be just beside him. "I know you wouldn't do anything like that to me, and there's no point in worrying over something we can't control. We'll cross that bridge when we come to."

Link looked up grimly, before turning back to the gorge they now stood at the edge of, the fairy following his line of sight. "For now, let's stick with crossing this."

The flat, rock surface they stood on sloped downward steeply, it plummeting a couple hundred feet before reaching the uneven, boulder infested bottom. The basin wasn't very far across in diameter, its other wall consisting of the beginnings of the mountain range, that side much steeper and looking much more perilous to climb than this slope would be to descend.

He began to pace the length of the gorge, his eyes scanning the other side to find what would be the best way to climb, also noting the two creatures inhabiting the basin. They were ten times larger than Link, reptilian, and had spiked backs, their large, clawed paws curled in relaxation as they slept near one another. Their long, thick tails were drawn in near their bodies, Link recalling the numerous times he'd faced these in Hyrule.

"Ever fought a dodongo before?" Tatl asked, noticing Link had taken note of the creatures at the bottom, and also hoping he truly had pushed thoughts of the black mark out of his mind.

Link smiled, shaking his head at the memories the word brought back. His expedition in Dodongo Cavern had been memorable, it having been his first true adventure after leaving Kokiri Forest. He recalled Navi and him constantly having to utilize nearby bomb flowers, and the loss of his first wooden shield upon being attacked by a fire keese. "Yes, I've fought plenty. But I'm hoping to sneak by them."

"Yes, they do seem content with one another," the fairy commented jokingly. "When they're not trying to kill animals smaller than them for food."

"Is there a path, through the mountains?" Link asked, continuing his walk and scanning of the other side to no avail. He saw that the gorge went off and into the distance before it curved to the left, the boulders lessening and the bottom flattening out as it did so, eventually becoming the west end of Termina field. Upon turning around to scout the other side, Tatl answered his question.

"Yes, there is! Sorry, I don't usually worry about those, with wings and all."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, dismissing her thought. "You'd still be stuck in that room under that hole I fell down if it wasn't for me."

"And you'd have stumbled into the ditch in that dark tunnel without _me_."

"Look," Link said, smiling, "we each have our own uses. I do all of the fighting, the ocarina playing, the smooth talking, and the door opening... and you light stuff up."

"Shut up, fairy boy. While I'd admit you're more useful than you were as a Deku head, I'd still be to the goron village and back before you'd made it half that distance."

"And then what would you do once you got to the temple?" Link asked. "Light up the dark hallways?

"Yes, I would. And then my superior wit and sarcasm would leave them unconscious."

"Touché." Then he spotted what he was looking for: the place where the path cut into the rock wall on the other side. It had been on the eastern side of the gorge, it opening up in the direction of the west before curving around to go directly into the mountains, the pathway disappearing into an opening the rising rock walls made. Three things, however, would have to be overcome before that journey could be made: the rock wall leading into the gorge, the two dodongos the pathway opened up just beside, and the large chunks of ice blocking the rocky road at the mouth it ran into.

"Ah, seriously? Right next to the monstrous lizards!"

"We still might be able to make it passed them," Link stated, uncertainly. "As long as we don't make too much noise climbing _down_."

"Oh, because we have a strong history of avoiding the carnivorous wildlife of Termina."

"Exactly," he answered sarcastically, putting his foot down over the edge for it to meet the slanted rock wall below him. It met no resistance, however, so when he took his other foot off of the top, he began to slide downward. Link's palms shot out to slow him down, his skin scrapped instantly. "Ah!" It was only a short second before his boots stopped his descent, his feet having found a piece of the slope jutting out far enough. This enabled him to remove his hands from the wall, Link turning them to look at the blood shining on them.

Tatl flew down to see him examining them, Link's expression sour. "Gloves would have been a good idea," he said, looking up at the fairy.

"Ouch," she commented. "Actually, you should let me get those for you. You'll probably end up doing this more than once."

"That'd be fantastic," Link said, reaching into his bag to grab the necessary left over funds.

"See, one more thing I'm useful for," she said as she took the rupees. "Making up for your forgetfulness. Just... stay here, or keep climbing, I guess; I'll be right back."

"Thanks, Tatl." The little white ball then disappeared over the edge, going back towards Clock Town, which hadn't been left all that far behind yet. He, after a moment of standing there, his back facing the mountains on the small convex ledge he'd landed on, dared to risk turning around. He did so so successfully, eventually managing to sit down as well, back against the rock wall and looking down at the long distance he had left to go. The dodongos were still fast asleep, the morning hardly broken, the mountains looming ominously behind them.

All was silent, until he heard the twinkling noise he knew to mark the arrival of a fairy. It only had been a couple of minutes, and he at first he was surprised at how quickly Tatl had managed to run her errand. However, a purple ball of light flew over the edge just over him, flying regardless of him towards the mountains. It took Link only a moment to realize his error, but as soon as he did, he quickly and carefully began to get to his feet, the fairy already half way across the gorge.

"Tael!" Link exclaimed. The purple fairy stopped at the sound of his name, turning around abruptly to see the green-clad, blonde haired youth at the top of the slope. Their eyes met from across the gap, Link unable to move and Tael remaining where he was. The purple fairy, after being distracted by this for only a moment, turned around and flew away, as if Link had never spoken. Link was taken back, at first, clinging to the rock wall for support as he looked out in disappointment, not having been prepared for this reaction. "Hey... wait!"

The fairy did not stop, and soon Tael had disappeared from view, leaving Link where he was. He shook his head at this and scoffed, not quite understanding, when his attention turned to the dodongos. Horrified, he realized that his two exclamations had woken the beasts he'd hoped to sneak passed. They were beginning to stir from their sleep, and Link gulped, realizing he was a sitting duck from his current position. He knew well-enough that these creatures could scale walls easily; with only two legs, both long and powerful, it made hoisting its body easy.

Once awake, it didn't take them long to notice the boy trapped on the wall, having disturbed their peaceful slumber in the shade. The one who saw him first hissed, and began taking steps over to the slope from far down below, its powerful feet thudding loudly on the rocky surface. The other merely remained where it was, stretching and yawning as it awoke, determining the prey easy enough for one to handle.

Link realized he could not wait for Tatl to return for the gloves, and turned to climb back up the rock wall. The short period he had slid down, however, was impossible to climb up; there were no grips. He would only managed to scrape his hands more and end up falling, making eating him much easier, once the fall killed him. Link then decided it best to find a larger area for him to hold his ground on, beginning to climb further to the right, his eyes not finding what he was looking for.

The dodongo, once it made it to the base, began to pull itself easily upward, each stretch a massive stride, the nails plunging into the rock and hoisting the rest of its body to repeat the process again. It easily changed direction to follow Link, still right below him, the boy unable to keep up with the lizard's progress. The dodongo had already covered several feet, Link finally finding the ledge he'd been searching for. It was, however, much farther off to the right and several feet down below, though still much higher than the lizard. He contemplated reaching this, inching his feet slowly along the narrow crevice his feet had found, hugging the wall as he do so, when the dodongo took one final step.

Link knew what was coming next even before it stopped moving, bringing its head back and inhaling an abnormally large amount of air. He desperately looked down at the ledge of safety too far off, and knew that he only had one shot. Link positioning his feet exactly where they needed to be, he turned his back to the wall, staring at the ledge intently.

When the dodongo released its breath, fire bellowed forth in a wide, powerful stream, snapping through the air in the direction of its target. Link let go of the wall, ran a couple of steps along the crevice, and then leapt, the fire crashing onto the surface he'd left behind. His plummet began soon after, his arc through midair ending, hurtling down regardless of whether or not he'd been able to cover the distance.

The lizard ended its stream of fire just as Link crashed down on top of the ledge he'd aimed for, rolling on the hard, rock surface in order to absorb some of the impact. It was still rather painful, and his momentum spun him right over the edge, which he managed to grab onto and pull himself back on top of before it was too late. The dodongo was still several feet below him, but was now much further to the east, turning its head in his direction and hissing. Link, realizing his time was short, scrambled to his feet and opened his bag, pulling out the rope inside and bending down to wrap it around a sharp, jutting corner of the rock. The fire-breathing, two-legged, giant lizard, meanwhile, began to walk to be in shooting range, taking just as massive strides as it had before.

Link, having had much experience with knot tying before, was confident that it would hold his weight, pulling it tight and standing tall to bring the rest of the rope into his hands, running his hands along it until he felt enough length had been secured. The dodongo eventually stopped, once again slamming its paw down into the ground to remain steadfast, and this was the cue Link was waiting for. He ran forward and leapt off of the surface of the ledge, the length of the rope left slacking dwindling fast.

The lizard, having taken another breath and brought its head back, stopped when it saw its prey flying towards it instead. The rope tightened, and Link swung upwards just feet in front of the dodongo, letting go of it and reaching for his sword. The dodongo was unable to crane its head back to follow him as its prey flew over, it instead taking one of its paws out of the rock. This, however, was not capable of being done quick enough. Link came down to fall alongside the creature's back, plunging his sword into its tail before he fell passed.

The dodongo yelped shrilly, his sword remaining inside of the wound and stopping Link's fall. Blood instantly spurted from around where his blade had broken the scaly skin, but he kept his grip on the sword nonetheless. The giant lizard, once its scream had been finished, began to attempt to remove its paw from the rock; it accomplished this much, but then found its legs weak and beginning to wobble as it tried to turn around and go back down. Link, realizing this was about to happen, tried to swing his body towards the rock wall he was just beside, currently dangling over the long fall.

Eventually, his boots found the surface he was looking for, and upon planting them firmly, prevented his body from swinging back out and instead drew it in. Link removed the sword from the tail and hugged the wall closely, the dodongo finally unable to hold itself up any longer and falling from the wall, light-headed and weak from blood lost. The lizard fell passed whom it had intended to kill, Link pressing himself tightly against the slope so as to avoid being caught by any falling body part of the dodongo.

Once this danger was gone, he looked down to see it crash into the rock basin, letting out a final yelp before lying there, broken, on its back, quietly moaning now as it continued to bleed. Link then turned to his sword, to see it covered in blood, having managed to avoid getting it anywhere else on him. He knew that damage to the tail was lethal to any dodongo in Hyrule, and had now proven that the same applied to those in Termina.

Link then looked back up to see his rope now dangling by itself several feet up and away, the other dodongo turning from its half-asleep state to see what had happened. It hissed, Link turning his attention to it and realizing he was still not safe. He began to descend the rocky slope much faster, it not as steep in the lower parts, and reasoning it would be best to obtain his rope later. With his sword remaining in his left hand and his hat now in his bag, it went much faster, Link almost to the bottom before the dodongo had even made it there, going instead to its dying companion at first. His hand left red prints on the rock as he went down, from the open wounds that had been made worse by the rope and successive climbs.

Link paused as soon as this thought crossed his mind, holding on with one hand as he brought his right up to his face, looking at the scraps worsening and now potentially freckled with dodongo blood. His stomach turned at this, but the dodongo behind him reminded him he didn't have time to worry about injuries at the moment. Hearing the deep breath behind him, Link quickly dropped from the slope the rest of the way and landed to finally be in the basin.

The fire scorched the rock he'd been clinging to, the dodongo stopping to turn and face Link before he'd hardly managed to get anywhere. He quickly drew his shield as the lizard breathed in yet again; the fire that came forth next curled off its metal surface, sliding Link's feet slowly backwards, unable to completely withstand the pressure.

He tried to build a strategy to make it around to its tail, but didn't think that would be a possibility; dodongos were very much aware of their natural weakness, capable of spinning around almost instantly in order to guard it, unless they could be surprised. This giant lizard, however, was anything but caught off guard, enraged and taking steps closer towards Link, increasing the pressure on his shield and causing his feet to slide backwards across the rocks underneath him. The heat was intense as he struggled against the stream of fire, sweat breaking out on his forehead, his face contorted in concentration, unable to do anything until his attacker stopped.

Eventually, his breath did run out, Link bringing down his shield and wasting no time. He ran to circle the beast, leaping out of the way of the next fire blast and drawing his bow and arrow, his sword returned to its scabbard. As the dodongo turned and took in its next deep breath, the arrow was released, it traveling directly into its wide open throat. The lizard made an odd choking sound as a result, the fire that came out disappearing almost as soon as it left its teeth. Gurgling now from the injury, it shook its head painfully, looking up to see that Link was no longer in front of it.

To make sure the job was done, his sword went straight through the tail of the dodongo, which after stomping around and getting out what little fire it could for a few moments, collapsed feet away from the other one that was now dead.

Link, panting, took a few steps backwards away from the lizards he'd killed, sword and shield in hand, blue eyes taking in the damage he'd done. He stood like this until a white ball of light appeared far up at the top of the rocky slope, turning to see it.

Tatl stared dumbfounded at the two dead dodongos, before beginning to fly down towards Link.

"You're late," he said, smiling to himself at the fairy's shock.

"I... brought your gloves," she said, the thick, leather, dark brown hand garments dangling beneath her. "That I guess weren't needed."

"No, they could still help," Link said, putting his shield away and bringing up his palms to show her the raw, bleeding skin, dodongo blood stained on the back.

"Ah, Link!" she exclaimed. "Why didn't you wait for me? Wasn't our plan to sneak passed them?"

"Yeah, it was," he said, wiping his hands off even further before sliding the brown gloves on, flexing his fingers and fastening the straps. "But your brother ruined that for me."

"My brother?" Tatl said, not understanding. "What're you talking about?"

"He flew by a couple of minutes after you left," Link said, pointing with his now protected hands over towards the break in the mountains the path snaked through. "I tried to call his name to get his attention, and that... woke them up."

"Then that's your fault, you idiot!" the fairy said. "Wow; you really should learn to be a _little_ more careful. I guess blundering along has worked for you so far, but this lovely, reptilian, fire-breathing, sharp-toothed, animal-eating monster couple could have spent the rest of their days terrorizing helpless prey if it wasn't for you."

"I know, I'm a terrible person," Link said.

"But more about Tael," Tatl persisted eagerly. "He just flew over the gorge by himself? Was he coming from Clock Town?"

"I don't know. I would guess so, but I would think you would have ran into him."

"I guess I could have missed him, but what happened? He just didn't hear you?"

"No, he did," Link said, nodding his head. "He just chose to turn around and leave me, as if I never said anything, leaving me to the dodongos."

"... Ouch," Tatl replied, looking off as if in thought. "He was probably looking for the Skull Kid. I doubt he's been sucked into the time loops too, so he probably was expecting to meet the imp somewhere. We both knew to come to the mountains if we couldn't find him."

"Do you think that's where he is then? The Skull Kid?"

"Yes," the fairy answered gravely. "Like I said, he comes here whenever he needs to recover; not that that's happened very often, but whenever he's tired or needs rest, there's a system of caves he likes to retreat to, right near the edge of Snowhead. Right near the... other side."

"You mean outside of Termina?" Tatl nodded. "Have you seen it?"

"No," she said. "He won't let us, and I don't want to anyways. It's like Koume said: weird stuff happens near the borders of Termina. And not the good kind of weird either."

"I know," Link added glumly. "That's where I saw Zelda and had my first..."

He trailed off, Tatl looking down at him sympathetically as he stared off, his face back to that deep sadness it now often returned to. "He was okay though, right?" Tatl asked, changing the subject. "Tael, I mean? He was fine?"

"Yeah, he was fine," Link said after a moments silence, taking the first step into walking around the corpses of the lizards. He made it to the steep slope he'd just climbed down, deciding to go up just far enough to obtain his rope. "Aside from his jerk self that left me to die."

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Tatl asked, looking in confusion at Link, who seemed to be backtracking, rather than taking the path promising to go northward into the mountains.

"I need my rope," Link said, his gloved hands finding the job much less painful as he scaled the rock wall a second time, eventually grabbing onto the rope and continuing the rest of the climb that way, the knot still secure.

"Oh," Tatl said, following him as he pulled himself back up onto the ledge he'd leapt from to slay the first dodongo. Soon the rope was untied and returned to his bag, Link returning to the basin and walking around the corpses once more, his companion by his side, as always.

"Yeah, my brother's definitely not one to be a hero," Tatl began, continuing their earlier conversation, "... or do anything for anyone else... ever. He probably expected to see me with you, and when he didn't... well, as far as he's concerned, us ditching you is still fresh on his mind. And I bet he doesn't know the horrific things the Skull Kids is capable of yet."

Link nodded grimly in agreement, the two now stepping onto the rocky path sloping upwards and beginning to curve around to head straight into the mountains. "Maybe we'll run into him; then I can make sure he knows what a jerk he is. I bet he's forgotten, with me not there to remind him everyday." She smiled to herself, Link looking at her and realizing that he wasn't the only one Tatl cared about in Termina. "But I still don't want to go find him; I want to leave him out of this, if we can. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if he died, even if he comes back at the start of the next loop. It's just..."

"I know," Link said, wanting her to stop the conversation before it went any further. The fairy turned to him and realized the mistake she'd made, knowing he'd lost an earlier version of herself and, more recently, Anju. Link, meanwhile, decided to keep to himself the fact that Tael had been killed by the Skull Kid on his first ever loop; it had happened on the same night Tatl had died.

"But," Tatl began, turning to once again look at the dodongos, the two of them now far above them on the path, "you really did do a good job here. Monster slaying seems to be a passion of yours."

"It definitely is," Link said, glad for the topic change. "Wolfos, keese, dragons, odd little tornadoes of water with eyeballs in the center, floating hands; I've bested my fair share. Though I miss the Master Sword; I have to say that the Kokiri Sword I have on my back isn't quite the same."

"Hm," Tatl paused, "maybe we can find a sword more master-like for you before our adventure is over."

"That'd be pretty cool," Link said, his hand going back to the handle of his sword without drawing it. "As much as me and this blade have gone through, I could always use an upgrade."

"Especially when it comes to situations like these," Tatl said, both of them coming to stop at the next obstacle blocking their road. They'd now approached the mountain face to find a massive chunk of ice completely blocking any further progression; it went from wall to wall, and was much too tall and slick for Link to hope to climb it. Far above, in the opening between it and the rock ceiling Tael had flown through, thick stalactites of ice hung down, their pointy edges just above the impasse.

"Though in retrospect, you'd probably need a really big hammer to smash this thing up, and I don't think you'd be able to fit that on your back."

"No, I've got an idea," Link said, taking several steps backward and pulling out his bow. He notched his arrow and pointed it up at one of the stalactites hanging down; Tatl followed his line of sight and understood what he was doing. She made sure she was a safe distance away, and then the arrow soared through the air, striking the pointed ice spike near its base. Link then brought down his arms and waited, the arrow lodged deep within.

Tatl opened her mouth to sarcastic allude to his failure, when cracks began to spread through the ice, chunks flying out in a noisy cacophony of sound. It didn't take long for a fissure to break cleanly, and the stalactite fell freely, the pointed end slamming into the ice blocking their way with newly found momentum. The block of ice exploded, shards flying in a myriad of directions. Link brought up his shield, his bow having been stowed away, ice reflecting off of its surface, as the sound of shattering glass filled the air.

As the sounds died down and the last chunks of ice came to rest, Link lowered his shield, Tatl flying down to be beside him once again. An opening in the ice had been made, the path continuing on into the heart of the mountains. A cold, chilled wind blew out from behind the ice, as if it had been bottled up, now released and bellowing over the two now standing before its source. Link turned to face his fairy, Tatl returning his glance before they continued onward, into Snowhead.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous reviewers:

Cranky Kong: Hm... you might be onto something there! And yes, I have taken characterization much further than the game ever did.


	25. Mountain Smithy

Note: I've taken quite a bit of liberty with the geography of Snowhead, but that's just so everything works out from a narrative standpoint, given the new material I have added and will be adding.

* * *

_Chapter 25: Mountain Smithy_

"_He shot me... He shot me... He tried to kill me... And I deserved it... I killed them... Why did I burn those people?... I killed them all... I killed them..._" The Skull Kid sat up against the rock wall of the cave, shivering not from the cold, but from the fear. It was a small rock tunnel when it came to width and height, though snaking far down into the depths of the mountains behind the imp, who was not far from the perfectly circular mouth of the cave. The snow came down fiercely just feet away, a fire burning in front of the small, shivering creature by himself. Its face was soft and dark, its small orange eyes behind the mask, whose threatening gaze did not waver as it peered into the fires.

"_**You did nothing wrong.**_"

"_But I couldn't kill her_," the Skull Kid said, his voice wavering uncontrollably. "_She just sat there, looking at her son, and it was my fault he was gone. I couldn't do it, and I don't know why. What if... all humans have something in them like that? What if they're just scared?_"

"_**That is all they are. Scared. There is no redemption for their cowardice.**_"

"_But those eyes that boy had when he shot me_," the imp began, "_they were terrible, and he was using the same magic we do. What if we're the terrible ones?_"

"_**We are the saviors. We are cleansing the world of weakness.**_"

"_What if there's more to them than that?_"

"_**STOP!**_" The Skull Kid instantly stopped shivering, now twitching only slightly, failing to completely repress the fear. "_**Do not be weak like them. I chose you because you were different. You understood. Remember how the giants left you? They abandoned you, and so has everyone else. If you leave me, you'll have no one left but the vermin who cast you out. They are afraid of death, and themselves, and even each other. They are afraid of the truth. We must bring them to it.**_"

The Skull Kid did not say anything, his twitching beginning to stop when he realized the mask was right. It had always been right. They were powerless, and the boy had only been able to hurt him with power he had stolen. The imp looked down at the scorch mark on his chest, placing his hand on it tenderly. It was almost completely healed, but would not do so unless it was treated further.

"_**It is time to bathe**_."

The masked imp grew rigid once more at these words, taking his hand away from the wound. "_But... but... I just did..._"

"_**And it is time to again**_."

"_But... I don't like it there_." He spoke in hardly a whisper, his mind reeling frightfully.

"_**It is the truth**_."

The Skull Kid slowly turned his head to look down into the tunnel disappearing far into the darkness of the mountains. He slowly began to get to his feet, shaking now as he left behind the fire, each step taking him further downward and away from the light of day.

* * *

Link and Tatl journeyed side by side, the walls of the mountain towering high into the air on both sides of them. The slope had been climbing upward steadily, the path still composed of solid rock; on either side, what may have once been lush grass now appeared yellow and lifeless. The cold air that had burst forth from the other side of the ice blockage had increased steadily the further they climbed, the sun beating down from high above losing its ability to warm them.

Link had his sword and shield drawn, trudging onward, looking at the ground and wondering how often the path was put to use; he reasoned that it hadn't been in quite some time. Currently, it was approaching another small cliff face, whatever was on top of it impossible to see. He slowed down, craning his head up as the shadow of it drew closer. He did not move completely into its darkness, planting his feet firmly and crouching down, as he peered up, as if expecting something.

He wasn't disappointed; a creature of some sort sprung over the ledge, four legs outstretched, as it soared high over Link. It blotted out the sun momentarily, Link taking several steps backward as it began to descend down toward him. The blue, crab-like creature, its yellow legs hairy and strong, its body flat, and its single red eye wild, came so as to pierce him with its two front legs. Link easily dodged this, the tektite missing; it landed without any damage, however, its legs built to absorb the shock of long falls.

Link knew this would be the case, already turned to defend himself as the tektite bounced high into the air to come down again. This time, Link did not move out of the way, the blue creature slamming into his shield, his sword shooting out from underneath and plunging into the monstrous crab's soft underbelly, before it could bring itself off. Link backed away as the tektite fell to the ground, it curling its legs inward stiffly as he walked away, sheathing his weapon.

"That makes four," Tatl said, as the two made their way to the cliff. "It's starting to worry me a little bit; this path isn't supposed to be littered with killer mountain crabs."

"It shouldn't make that much of a difference," Link replied, grabbing onto the rocky wall face with his gloved hands and beginning to scale its surface, it sloped and with just enough holds for this to be possible. "I couldn't tell you how many of these things I had to fight climbing Death Mountain."

"Death Mountain," Tatl repeated, shaking her head. "You're kidding, right? Whoever was responsible for naming the geography of Hyrule obviously wasn't an optimist. I mean, the Lost Woods? You had a Dehydration Desert, too, didn't you?" Link shook his head, smiling to himself, but did not respond, slipping slightly on the rock and quickly regaining his balance. "I'm not worried about you _fighting_ them. I'm more worried about what's causing them to be here. The swamp was one thing; that place is always infested with freakish animals that have no desire to be sociable. These mountains, especially this far south, are usually warm, friendly, and enjoyable. Traders were always coming up and down this way."

"Well, it's definitely not warm," Link said, catching another chill as he stretched towards the next grip and pulled himself upward again. "Or friendly."

"Maybe we should have made sure to equip you with warmer clothes," the fairy said. "It's supposed to only be cold and icy much farther north from here, and I knew we'd be passing through Goron Village before we ever had to go there."

"We shouldn't turn back now," he suggested, still intent on his climbing as he spoke. "We've been following the path for a couple of hours now, and I don't want to waste anymore of our seventy-two hours than we have to."

"I guess it's not a good idea to take the Song of Time lightly anymore..." Tatl looked off, the memory of the Skull Kid ambushing them as soon as they came from the clock tower doors vivid.

"No, it's not," Link affirmed, his hand going over the ledge finally, having made it to the top. Tatl flew over first, something ice cold touching his exposed forearm as he pulled himself up after her. Link quickly jumped to his feet in response, brushing the small, white crystals his short sleeves had not protected him from, his boots crunching on the ground. He looked up to examine this new place, a burst of cold air bellowing over him and causing yet another shiver to run through his spine.

The narrow mountain pathway opened up into a wider circle, bordered by the tall, sheer rock walls. It was only several feet away that the path continued, sloping upward and out of sight, twisting out of view. The clearing, rather than being composed of merely more dead vegetation, seemed to have been effected more directly by the cold spell; a thin blanket of white covered the entire ground, it hard and thin, mostly ice and only dotted here and there with patches of snow.

Link's gloved hands went to his arms, holding them as he began to shiver, stronger gusts of icy breath coming from what he wagered was the continuation of the path on the opposite end. The only other thing in the clearing was a small, wooden structure; the log cabin seemed humble, a large chimney atop its pointed roof, though no smoke visibly pouring out and into the still air. A small staircase ran up to the single door just below a window, a sign just beside it, Link unable to read it from where he was standing.

"It shouldn't be this _cold_," Tatl said, looking down at her companion. She knew herself to handle the cold much better, as a fairy, but wasn't sure how much she would be able to if it continued to decline in temperature at this rate.

Link didn't respond, his eyesight finding the wooden cabin. "We'll go there," he said, bringing his arms down and beginning to walk towards the abode. He was tense as he walked, unable to believe the incredible drop in temperature in comparison to the bottom of the cliff he'd climbed. "Maybe whoever's in there can help us."

"Mountain Smithy ahead. We sharpen any sword. We work hard so your sword works hard for you," Tatl said, having flown ahead to read the sign, Link then coming just beside her to read it himself. "Hm... maybe we can get more out of this than just a warm coat. Do you still have rupees left over?" She turned around to face him, Link nodding his head.

"One hundred and thirty-seven."

"That...," Tatl trailed off, however, having caught something coming from far behind Link on one of the rock walls making up the perimeter; it was a thin opening, the light failing to reach inside the secret cave, whose depths Tatl could not guess. A red eye had been peering at them from inside, but it had vanished as soon as the fairy saw it.

"What?" Link asked, turning around, his blue eyes finding the small cave, but nothing more.

"... I think we might have some company soon." Link turned back around to face her, his expression worried, though still far too preoccupied with the cold to do anymore exploring. He'd begun to notice small flakes of snow twirling through the air; they were thin and few, but still there, nonetheless.

"We'll worry about that later," he said, walking up to the cabin and knocking on the door. There was no answer. "Hello?" He knocked again, but still there was no response, becoming more aware every second of the forest attire adorning him.

"See if it's unlocked," Tatl suggested, Link uncertainly reaching out for the door knob and turning it. It budged, the door swinging open and creaking on its hinges. It opened up into darkness, Link and Tatl stepping into the small cabin uncertainly. There was complete silence, their eyes scanning the scene as they crept in further, Link carefully closing the door behind him, the cold air silenced for the moment, the building not able to offer much warmth of its own.

The wooden cabin floor went for a few feet before it reached a counter, all else before it blank except for a few boxes and pieces of furniture stored and pushed to the side. A staircase on the left went up to an invisible second story, but Link continued cautiously for the counter, the fairy's light and the sun pouring in from the window behind him the only things making anything visible. A massive hearth could be seen from the other side of the counter, though it seemed frozen solid, ice shining all across its dark, metal surface. A large desk sat just to the right of the counter, messily scattered with papers and utensils, with a small couch behind it up against the wall.

Link stopped when reaching the desk, looking to see a young man fast asleep on the green furniture behind it, sprawled across its surface with his arms dangling over the edge. He was a small man, a thick blanket covering him as he snoozed, oblivious of the boy and fairy who'd entered his house. Link turned to Tatl, as if expecting her to tell him what to do next, still shivering in the cold atmosphere the thin wooden walls did not keep out. She shrugged, however, Link turning back to the sleeping man and opening his mouth.

"Ugogh!" Link and Tatl both jumped at this, spinning around in response to the unnaturally deep, powerful voice that had loudly shouted incomprehensible gibberish. Their eyes found something possessing girth worthy of the voice that had just spoken. It was a creature of a basic humanoid form, with two arms and legs, but the boy and fairy found their necks craned back to behold the full might of this being standing behind the desk.

The only clothes it wore were undergarments, its legs, arms and torso exposed. Its body was pale beyond belief, the hard, muscular skin a ghastly white. Link could not begin to fathom how much the creature weighed, but it was hardened and ripped, towering over the two of them with two massive gloves covering its large hands, an incredible sledgehammer twice the size of Link over its shoulder. An iron helmet completely encased its head, only one half producing a slit for an eye and opening for the mouth, the right half of its helmet completely blank and sealed away.

The creature had suddenly appeared out of the darkness and yelled unintelligible nonsense at them, causing both of them to now stand in shock beholding it. Their eyes widened in fear, Link taking a step backwards and putting his hand on the handle of his sword, not entirely sure it would do much good.

The small man on the couch, in response to the noise, shot up from his sleep, looking sheepishly at the events taking place. It took him only a couple of seconds to understand what was happening: a stranger and his fairy had entered his cabin, the stranger armed and about to draw his weapon at the sight of the thing behind the counter. "Ugor ugoh ughor?" the creature said loudly, in response to Link's threatening gesture, the boy taking his hand off of the handle when he realized the creature was shaking his empty hand back and forth, palm out, as if to indicate he intended no harm.

"Shaddup!" the man on the couch exclaimed, in response to the pale giant, not getting off of the green furniture, but instead beginning to bring himself into a sitting position.

Link and Tatl remained frozen in front of the desk, Link's eyes darting from the man to the giant, the fairy's only fixed on the later. "_Link, what are you doing?_" she whispered urgently in his ear. "_Draw your freakin' sword! I don't know what the Din that thing is!_"

"Just when I was having a good dream...," the man on the couch said, stretching his arms up into the air and yawning, obviously not feeling the situation was in anyway urgent, and not having heard the fairy. Tatl looked uneasily from the giant staring at the two of them to the much smaller human, who had at first seemed pale but had a much livelier skin tone than this thing with the giant hammer, the creature still appearing threatening despite its intentions.

"Oh!" the man exclaimed, as if just having noticed Link and Tatl, his dark eyes finding the two of them, his facial hair a similar brown, with the hair on his head hidden under a white cap. He did not even acknowledge the hammer wielding giant in the iron mask, whom Tatl found her eyes instantly darting back to, as she remained tense next to Link, who uneasily began to lower his hand from the handle of his sword and straighten himself. "Welcome to the Mountain Smithy, where we take our time to make a good point."

He paused, as if waiting for Link and Tatl to say something, neither of them willing to look away from the giant staring at them. "... Clever," the fairy finally managed to force out of herself, commenting on the slogan he'd just recited, but not able to make eye contact with the small man.

"I am Zubora, the owner," he said, now smiling to himself, Link wondering if this was due to his blatant disregard of the tension in the room. "Pleased to meet you."

"Hi, Zubora," Tatl began, swallowing before she flew to be on the other side of Link, so as to now be in between him and the couch, her eyes always darting towards the counter. "So, I was just wondering... is this... your friend?" She stammered in finding the proper words, uncertain how much trouble her mouth could currently get them in.

"Ugo-oh! Ugo ugo!" The pale creature suddenly screamed again, this time waving his arms in the air, the hammer swung up above its head madly. The movement caused Link and Tatl both to jump again, attempting to recompose themselves immediately after.

"Nayru!" Tatl exclaimed.

"Shaddup over there!" Zubora shouted in reply to the giant, interrupting its rambling. The beast obeyed, instantly silencing itself and returning to staring at the newcomers. The man then turned to Link and Tatl, their eyes finding his and relaying the utmost confusion. He, not losing his smile, began to explain. "That huge fellow is my assistant, Gabora. He's all brawn and about as smart as a Deku Stick."

Link and Tatl took a moment to take this in, the giant, Gabora, chuckling stupidly in response to what the man had said. The fairy, her eyes now narrowed instead of wide with fear, nodded her head slowly. "Right... And it's just a coincidence that your names happen to rhyme?"

Zubora's smile almost faltered at this, but Link shook his head in response to Tatl's sarcasm, taking a step closer to be just in front of the desk separating them from the man, allowing Gabora to fall into his peripheral. "Please ignore my fairy," Link began. "She can't help herself sometimes."

"Hey!" Tatl exclaimed, flying up next to him before throwing one last look at the giant. "It's not my fault my companion here sometimes misplaces his sense of humor."

Link rolled his eyes yet again, Zubora continuing before he did. "Say... Did you come to have your sword sharpened?" Link's blue eyes noticed that his brown had traveled to the handle of his sword, turning back and shaking his head.

"No, actually," Link answered honestly, Tatl now falling silent. "I was coming up the mountains on an errand, and didn't think they would be this cold and hostile. I'd heard they weren't usually this bad, so didn't come all that prepared. I came across your cabin, and hoped you'd be able to help me." Zubora raised an eyebrow at this, his smile now fading as he beheld the two of them. "I'd be able to pay for any help you could give us; I just don't think I'll be able to finish what I came here to do in this thin tunic."

"I'd say," Zubora said, noticing Link shiver once more in his poor excuse for clothing in these extreme weather conditions. "But you'll need more than a big coat if you plan on following the path further up. Only the gorons can run around here empty handed without having to worry about freezing to death, or having their path blocked by an avalanche."

"Freezing to death?" Link inquired, looking up at his fairy before looking back down to the man still lying on his couch. "It's that bad?"

"I'm not sure what time period you're from," Zubora began, "but these mountains have been a frozen wasteland for months. Even the gorons are starting to have trouble coping with the cold." Link's expression turned into that of dismay, realizing now the hardships of their second journey had already begun.

"So...," Tatl started, when she realized Link was done speaking, "you're a blacksmith, then?"

Zubora nodded. "Unfortunately, we're not doing any business right now. It's because of this abnormal cold snap we've been having." He then nodded towards the hearth behind the desk, just beside the pale giant, who was still standing quietly. "See? Our hearth has been frozen over! The way things are going now, I won't be able to do any business until spring. Gabora and I were going to go back down to Clock Town out of how hopeless it's getting here. That big idiot over there just spends his time standing around staring at stuff, and I don't have anything more productive to do myself."

"Then why don't you leave the mountains?" the fairy asked. "It's miserable up here!"

"It's not looking any less miserable down there," the blacksmith said, nodding towards the window. "Have you seen that big chunk of rock hovering over the town? We were all packed and ready to go until we noticed... _that_ thing. Now, I'm not usually one to be superstitious, but something about that moon gives me the creeps."

"So... you're just going to sit here, and wait it out?" Tatl asked.

"Exactly!" Zubora said. "I'd be happy to keep my business running if I could; I'm not sure if that's even possible, given how few traders come by here now that the roads are all icy." He looked over to the hearth, before turning away again and sighing. "One step at a time, though. If I could just do something about that frozen hearth..."

"Ugo-oh!" the surprise scream from Gabora scared Tatl once again, now furious when she spun around to see the chanting giant, unable to meet its eyes hidden behind the helmet. Link smiled up at her, having been prepared this time for the outburst. "Ugo, ugo!"

"Eh? What's that?" Zubora asked, this time not merely resorting to yelling at him. "You say if we had hot water, we could melt the ice off the hearth?" Tatl, recovering from her third scare, narrowed her eyes in exaggerated disbelief. "Don't act like you know what you're talking about, you Deku Stick!"

"Are you kidding me?" Tatl exclaimed. "You understand it?"

"It?" Zubora inquired. "Now that's cold."

"It isn't even speaking English!" Tatl shook her head in disappointment, sighing as she turned away.

"Look," Link began, stepping passed the fairy and making sure to make eye contact with the blacksmith. "I really, really need to go further into the mountains. Is there anything I can buy from you, or any advice that you can give me, that would help me be able to do that?"

"The only advice I can give you is to turn back around," Zubora said. "I'm honestly surprised you two even made it this far. Those tektites have been rather nasty lately; they've made a nest in that cave across from our cabin, and without Gabora here to scare them off, I would have been food for them as soon as this endless winter brought them here."

"Listen, bum," Tatl said, turning back to him once more. "You may be content sitting there doing nothing, but my friend and I actually have some serious business to attend to at Snowhead. You've gotta help us out here."

Zubora only furrowed his brow, Link adding on, "Isn't there anything we can offer you, in exchange for supplies? A favor?"

"... If you two could get my hearth thawed out, I'd supply you with everything you needed to keep going," the blacksmith said. "But don't say I didn't warn you; even if I were to give you explosives and coats, the weather out there probably doesn't get any better the further north you go. I don't think twenty layers of thick fur would be able to get you all the way to the end of Snowhead."

"We'll take our chances," Tatl said, then spinning around to look at the hearth. "Now, how do we get this hearth unfrozen?"

Zubora shrugged, hardly throwing the massive stone appliance a glance. "Beats me. If I knew how to, I'd of had it up and running weeks ago."

"What was it Gabora said about the hot water?" Link asked, remembering an earlier part of the conversation.

"Oh," the blacksmith began, shaking his head and gesturing to dismiss what he was about to say. "He believes a rumor that says long ago there were hot springs somewhere in the mountains near here." When he looked up to see Link taking him seriously, he made sure to further exaggerate how little credit he gave this claim. "Bah! I don't believe such rubbish."

"Well, we've been known to grasp for straws before," Tatl said, turning to face the giant. She was surprised to find it still staring at her, taken aback at first before swallowing to speak to it. "Where... would we go looking for this spring? We have bottles, so we'd be able to bring plenty back."

"Ugoh ugo ugo!" Gabora responded, the fairy turning uncertainly back to the man sitting on the couch.

Zubora, however, didn't seem to want to translate. "What?" Tatl asked. "You didn't understand him that time?"

"No, I did," the blacksmith began. "He just said that the hot spring water was deep in the tektite cave across from us." He looked up, his smile gone, and his expression grave. Link and Tatl exchanged a glance, Zubora seeing this and continuing. "I wouldn't risk your lives going after it, though. Like I said, the claim has no evidence to back it up."

Tatl then turned away from her companion, looking at the giant who was not breaking eye contact with her. She realized it would be impossible to attempt to procure any supplies by force, the hammer capable of taking out the two of them in one blow. She, upon further reflection, didn't think it would have even been possible to convince Link to attempt something like that.

"So, if we go down into the tektite cave and bring back some hot spring water, you'll supply us with what we need to?" Tatl asking, making sure she had the situation clarified.

Zubora sighed at this before responding. "Assuming this nonsense had any truth to it, why, I would also be willing to make your sword stronger... for a modest price." He smiled when he said this, the business-like grin wide. "We're well known for making the strongest swords around; we could make that dingy blade of yours practically indestructible." He stopped though, looking off and his smile fading before he turned back. "To do that, I'd need gold dust. We haven't had any suppliers bring us any in quite a while, so that'd be up to you as well."

Link nodded, turning to go towards the door, before his fairy decided she couldn't go out without another word.

"Hold on a second!" Link sighed, turning back around halfway to the door. "Do you really expect him to go down into that cave without at least one coat? If he's your one chance of getting your business up and running, surely you don't want him freezing to death before he can even reach the hot water."

"I'm not worried about him freezing to death," Zubora began. "I'm more concerned with the possibility of him being eaten. But... Gabora! Fetch our customer a coat, quick-like!"

The giant laughed at this, turning around to hold a thick, brown jacket in his free hand. He threw it to Link, who caught it, looking up at the two in the cabin.

"Thank you," he said. "We shouldn't be that long at all."

"Ugoh ugo ugo!"

"Shaddup!"

* * *

Link and Tatl approached the crevice in the rock, the snow outside still hardly sprinkling the ground that was hard underneath Link's boots. The brown coat, which had only turned out to be slightly large on him, covered his thin green tunic, his scabbard and shield having been adjusted to be on the back of that. The cabin was only just behind them, the sun bright to the west of the moon, whose back was currently to them, staring down at the clock tower they could see from atop the cliff they were passing.

"So, what exactly did you see in that cave earlier?" Link asked, the cold only bearable in the coat he'd procured.

"A red eye," the fairy answered. "Which I guess is expected. Have you ever taken a whole nest of tektites on?"

"No. I've only ever faced a few at a time, and never really thought about where they were coming from. I don't think we'll have to worry, though; surely we can sneak through to the hot water."

"Surely," Tatl remarked sarcastically. "Risking sneaking passed two dodongos was one thing, but I don't think we'll be making it out if we wake a whole nest of monster crabs."

"That was your brother's fault," Link reminded her. "And besides, don't forget that we always have the Song of Time as a back-up, in case anything goes too wrong."

"Unless the thing that 'goes too wrong' ends up separating you from your ocarina, like in Woodfall. Or if whatever's the matter doesn't allot enough time for us to sit and down and play your little melody."

"Look, I promise you we'll be getting into trouble at some point or another while we're here. It might as well be now. Next time, we'll make sure to be a little more prepared, so we're not running errands for people again."

"Yeah, yeah. I was just kind of hoping the Skull Kid hadn't effected this place yet. He usually didn't allow Tael and I to come with him when he went to the mountains, so I guess I was wrong to assume it was still untouched."

Link then reached the mouth of the cave, bending down to look inside. The tunnel ventured into darkness quite quickly, twisting to slope downward only a few feet inward. No tektites could be seen, and Link turned to to the fairy before going inside, pressing a finger to his lips.

"_What_?" she whispered. "_You don't think I know when to be quiet?_"

Link merely shot her a glance, before turning back to enter the cave, Tatl scoffing. He got down on his knees before he was able to crawl inside, only able to stand up partially once the outside was left behind. His back craned, Link went over the uneven floor, Tatl flying in behind him nervously. The two were only able to travel a few feet before the cave dropped off down a long hole, its depths impossible to see, given the lack of light.

Link, crouched down over its edge, reached into his bag and pulled out his rope, tying it safely around a sturdy rock. He grabbed the rest of the rope in his hands, opening his bag, pointing inside of it, and motioning to Tatl. The fairy didn't understand, at first, then realizing that her light could awaken whatever was down there. She flew into his bag, Link closing it and letting the rope slowly down into the hole. He waited for a few moments, to see if anything reacted to it, but it seemed to have been ignored.

Link then grasped it in his gloved hands and began to steadily climb down into the darkness, the cold increasing, and his breath soon the only sound. He hardly made a noise, any he did far reaching, the light above him blinding as he descended. Looking down, all he could see was the circle of light made by the hole above, his shadow in it and no where else visible in the darkness. The rope stopped just before reaching the floor, Link feeling that the underground room he was in was very large, despite the lack of visibility.

His boots lightly touched the bottom of the cave, Link letting go of the rope and looking around, his blue eyes wide in their failed attempt to see. He took a step forward uncertainly, not sure which direction to go in the island of light in the middle of the darkness. Link reached down to his bag, pulling it up and opening the cover only slightly, hoping Tatl would understand. She did, cutting a thin beam of light through the air directly in front of him, acting as a flashlight.

Link walked carefully, lighting only the floor in front of him as he walked, checking for steep drops and any other unpleasant obstacles potentially lurking on the ground. Eventually, Tatl's light revealed where a part of the rock floor met wall, and he brought the bag up to begin stretching it over the rock face in front of him. He stopped, however, when the light found the yellow end of a leg.

Link closed the bag quickly, holding his breath as he heard the rest of the tektite stir. This stir resulted in another one, and another, Link hearing several deep breaths being taken all along the dark wall he was only inches from. The noise traveled like a shock wave only a short distance before dying out, and then all was silent again.

Link remained frozen, realizing that all of the walls in this large room he'd entered were completely covered by tektites, every inch of rock inhabited. He reasoned that they must be sleeping, taking a step backward before cautiously opening the bag slightly again, this time only lighting the bottom of the rock wall that met with the floor, running along the perimeter and now much more conscious of his breathing.

The light still shone from up above and behind him, making it impossible for his eyes to adjust to anything but what the fairy was able to illuminate. He quietly walked around the room until the light revealed a break in the wall and floor. He lifted the bag up further to find that another cave begun there, this one in complete darkness, the roof and walls low and revealing no tektites. Link began walking through it, the bag still open to light the way, treading carefully.

The cave looped around to the right, Link following silently, Tatl remaining in the bag with the rest of its contents. The tunnel went on for a lot longer than the first had, no other living creatures having yet to be seen. "_Link?_" Tatl whispered, her voice hardly audible.

"_Yeah?_" he answered, his voice responding in the same small exhale.

"_We should go back_." Link scoffed, continuing his walk, his eyes scanning everything it could as the tunnel progressed.

"_We'll be fine. Just stay quiet and none of the tektites will hear us_."

"_It's not them_," the fairy said. "_I... followed the Skull Kid on one of his trips into the mountains. __He went down this cave, and when I went down with him..._" She stopped, as if choked and unable to continue.

He stopped walking as soon as she said this, his eyes still seeing as far as they could through the darkness, not looking down at the bag. "_This is the cave the Skull Kid keeps coming to?_"

"_No,_" Tatl said immediately. "_It was a lot further north, it's just..._" She paused again, her voice shaking. "_I'm scared, Link_. _The further we go down here, the more I remember of what happened in there._"

"_Tatl_, _it's okay_," Link whispered, what she'd said beginning to worry him, but realizing this was not the right place to discuss it. Her voice was not stable, and he was worried that she may say something louder than intended, in which case they'd be sitting ducks in the darkness. "_Whatever happened, we can talk about it as soon as we get out of this cave_."

Tatl didn't say anything more, however, Link continuing his walk soon after she had nothing left to say. As the silence stretched on, what she'd said began to replay itself in his head, Link becoming more curious about what it was the Skull Kid preoccupied himself with this far north.

Soon, he felt warmth, this feeling interrupting his train of thought. The light revealed the end of the cave, it opening up into another large, underground room. It was as dark as the first, but as Link opened the bag further, no tektites were revealed. Eventually, he had the bag fully opened, and the fairy cautiously flew out from inside into the new room.

It was not as big as the first, with no hole at the top providing escape to the outside world. Stalactites and stalagmites hung from the roof and shot up from the floor, crowding the room and allowing for very little walking space to what was in the center. Link and Tatl approached it carefully, the boy having to carefully avoid the rock formations filling the room.

In the center sat a large pool of water; it had a slight glow to it, revealing the rock basin the liquid sat in as the two peered down from its edge. The submerged portion of the cave went down and out of sight, into darkness, the source of the water probably far below. "_Do you think this is it?_" Tatl asked, relieved that they were no longer walking down the pathway of infinite darkness.

Link nodded, reaching into his bag and pulling out one of his bottles full of water. He removed the cork and took a cool drink, before dumping its contents onto the rock bordering the basin. Link then dipped the bottle into the water, it lapping onto his hand as it filled. He bared his teeth in pain, waiting until the bottle was full before retracting it.

His hand shook as he put the cork back in the bottle now full, removing the glove and looking at the burn now on his right hand. Tatl lit the injury as she looked at it herself. The burn from the poisonous swamp water from two cycles ago had almost completely healed, but this was now no longer the case, the scraps on his palms also just beginning to scab. "_Ouch. I guess we know for sure now, huh?_"

"_Yes. It should be enough_." Link then stood up once he put the bottle back with the rest of his belongs. Taking another step, however, he slipped, the hot spring water now dotting the cave floor. Initially, he went back to fall directly into the hot water just in front of him, managing to avoid doing this and instead stumbling away. His hand went out to one of the stalagmites for support, but it snapped off as soon as he put his weight on it, Link falling down to the cave floor, the sound of breaking rock echoing throughout the room.

"_Link!_" Tatl whispered sharply, flying down to his side as he began to sit up. "_Are you okay?_"

"_Yeah, I'm..._" He stopped when he lifted his burnt hand, having looked at it due to the further pain he'd just caused it. Link noticed it was shining, the fairy's light reflecting off of it. The two looked at this for a moment longer, puzzled, Link realizing the little bursts of light were golden, and dotted all along his hand. Eventually, his eyes went to the stalagmite he'd broken; the stub where the point had been was raining golden flakes, the inside having been stuffed with them.

"_... Gold dust_," Tatl said, after having made the same discovery Link did. She turned back to him, smiling, as Link pulled out his second bottle filled with cool water.

"_Surely he'll have some to refill our bottles with, huh?_" Link asked, as the last of his drinking water was lost. He then went under the now destroyed rock formation, putting his glove back on and scrapping the golden dust inside so as to collect it in the bottle.

"_You'd think so_," Tatl replied, watching him do it, but her mind elsewhere.

It wasn't long before the bottle was full of the stuff Zubora had claimed made the best blades, and he reapplied the cork, placing it in his bag along with the hot spring water. Getting back to his feet, he looked over to Tatl, who was still staring off into space. "_Tatl?_" he asked, lifting the lid to his bag. She snapped out of her trance, looking over to Link, who was eying her worriedly. "_Are you ready to go?_"

She responded by flying into the bag without saying anything, Link looking down at her uncertainly as she sat amongst the various items his journey had procured. Resigning to talk later, he closed the flap of the bag most of the way, using her light once again to guide him back through the tunnel to the room full of tektites.

The journey was just as long as the first time, except this time entirely without conversation. The twists and turns were taken silently, until a light could be seen ahead. Tatl sighed with relief from inside of the bag, Link smiling at this as he stepped into the first room of the cave systems. He knew the tektites were still littering the walls, not wanting to guess how many were there as he made his way towards the spotlight shining in the middle of the room. His rope was still there, hanging just above the cave floor.

Closing the bag all of the way, he grabbed onto the rope and began to climb, pain still searing through his right hand, even though it was gloved. He tried his best to ignore this, also unable to meet the blinding light above him directly, instead trying to look away as he went up. He was over half way up the length of the rope when his escape no longer went unnoticed.

A loud screech cut through the air, Link eyes instantly widening and his head spinning around towards the source of the sound. A single red eye could be seen in the darkness, it looking directly at him, narrowed angrily. Almost immediately after the screech, a second red eye opened just beside it, and then a third, and a fourth. Small, red lights began to open up along the wall, spreading around in a circle and dotting the darkness, as the tektites awoke. More screeches broke the silence, and the entire wall was eventually spotted with hundreds of eyes, all looking at the boy dangling from the rope in the spotlight.

Tatl flew out of the bag, looking around in horror, as did Link.

His state of shock lasted only a moment; he began climbing the last of the rope in haste, still avoiding the sunlight above him as the tektites now stirred, the red eyes turning away from him as they moved. Tatl, remembering the jumping power these creatures possessed, circled around Link quite a distance away from him as he went up. Her eyes worriedly beheld the many moving red eyes in the darkness, unable to see anything more of the monsters.

Then, one lunged off the wall through the air, directly towards Tatl. "Watch out!" the fairy shouted, moving out of the way as the tektite continued hurtling at Link. He turned just in time, thanks to Tatl's warning, swinging out of its path, the crab missing and landing far below on the opposite wall. The fairy managed to save him from two other similar situations, and then Link was scrambling out of the dark hole, quickly untying the rope as Tatl flew out beside him.

"Hurry!" she exclaimed. "They're coming up after us!"

She hardly managed to get out this warning before a yellow leg shot out from inside of the hole, grabbing Link's ankle and pulling him back down into the nest. He'd only managed to loosen the rope a great deal, his hands flying off the knot as he was dragged over the edge to fall back downward, Tatl watching helplessly. "_Link!_"

The outside world was once again a bright light above him, Link's hands only able to find the rope, it stopping his fall and swinging back and forth in response to his momentum. The tektite that had grabbed his ankle was indistinguishable from the others now surrounding the hole in the roof, all looking down at him, himself only feet away from the safety he'd just been pulled away from. Link began to climb to rope back towards the top regardless, and it only taking a few strides for him to realize it was not nearly as secure, and beginning to loosen even further.

A tektite sprung at him as soon as this discovery was made, Link understanding that swinging out of the way would be far too risky. He drew his sword and sliced through its underbelly as it had brought its legs around him, it letting go as soon as it had grabbed a hold of him, falling to the ground lifeless. Another attacked him, followed by another, and each were slain in a similar fashion, Link all the while quickly trying to make his way up the rope, batting away the tektites surrounding the exit by swinging his sword through the air.

Then his hands met the lip of the outside of cave, and he pulled himself, another pair of legs wrapping around his legs before he'd been able to pull himself completely out. Link turned back, the tektite's red eye peering up at him as it held him, barring its teeth and preparing to bite. Link plunged his sword through its singular eye before this happened, kicking the dead tektite off and crawling as far away from the hole as he could.

Unexpectedly, he was attacked from behind, two yellow legs now around his shoulders, the crab's mouth just beside his head. Link thrust his sword backward without thinking, pushing the dead creature off and turning around to see another one behind him; while he was down there, obviously more than one had made it out before him. Link drew his shield as this one lunged, tossing it off and killing it once it landed on the Hylian metal, himself turning to look longingly at the rope. It, however, was being pulled on by the tektites, more already scurrying out and around; it would be impossible to retrieve.

Link then turned to run out of the cave, coming out of the thin crevice and back into the full daylight, Tatl there waiting for him, the sun now closer to its zenith. Clouds had begun to dot the sky, Link looking up to wonder if the precipitation normally arriving on the second day came here sooner, the small droppings of snow beginning to become a flurry.

Tatl flew by his side as his boots crunched on the iced ground, three other tektites having already made it out into the opening before him. One leapt at him, but it was thrown down by his shield as all of the others had, and was soon ended by his blade. The other two began circling him, Link prepared for the next attack while moving as far away from the entrance to their nest as he could. His eyes found the Mountain Smithy, which was still far off on the other side of the clearing, and then went back to the tektite cave, more of the crabs pouring out in large numbers.

They soon joined the circle, and Link's confidence began to fade as none lunged, all of them beginning to close off any hope of escape he had, the ring completely surrounding the boy and his fairy. His blue eyes were now wide with fear, the screeching clamor of animals loud as they entrapped their prey, the number surrounding them increasing exponentially.

"Tatl," Link said, his voice clearly portraying his nerves.

"Yeah?" she replied, her voice just as shaky, the two looking back and forth at the hundreds of red eyes.

"In case we don't make it out of this..."

"Link, I've been lying about the other side of the mountains!" Tatl suddenly interrupted, turning to face him and looking away from the tektites, her mind obviously having been rambling elsewhere. "I know what's there; the Skull Kid's cave leads directly to it!" Link's blue eyes turned away from the crabs, eyebrows raised in confusion at her.

"What?" The tektites then charged, all flooding into the center where their potential meals stood. Link was forced to turn away from Tatl, not sure which side to defend, his sword and shield at the ready.

"I'm sorry I lied, but every time you brought up the northern border, I..." she stopped though, looking down to see a tektite had already pounced on Link. She gasped, turning around just in time to see one jump after her; she flew out of the way, it missing, the fairy nervously watching as Link wasn't able to escape as easily.

The first tektite landed on his shield, but before he could throw it off, another flew into his left side, its yellow legs latching to him. Turning to meet the red eye of this one, he was grabbed from behind, and soon his legs gave out, Link falling to the ground, the tektite on his shield crawling over it to be just over his head. He cut his sword up through the air, slashing through the eye of one, but then pain erupted on that arm, Link managing to still clutch his sword tightly as it was then restrained by those still surrounding him. He turned to see the teeth of one of the tektites having sinked into his skin, blood coming up and around the fangs. Link could only scream, the sun now blotted out and his eyes squeezed shut as he soon lost count of how many yellow legs were wrapped around him.

Teeth began to tear into his jacket elsewhere, it preventing his skin from being immediately broken; all the while he kept his eyes closed, teeth barred. _Please, help me. Don't let them kill me. You can stop them._ Link was speaking to the scar on his chest, as if some entity that could understand him; unsure whether or not it could, or if it was even cognitive, it was the last thing he could think of to turn to, not caring what else happened once the dark magic took a hold of him.

And then, he suddenly rose high into the air, several tektites falling off as he did. At first, he thought it had worked, that he had once again obtained the power the Skull Kid had embedded him with. But then he realized he was still seeing through his own eyes, something having picked him up from behind. Link wasn't sure what it was, two tektites still clinging to him despite him leaving the ground.

"Ugoh!" Whatever had picked him up, after exclaiming this, then tossed him to the side, Link landing far away from the crowd of tektites. One of the crabs clinging to him, the one on top, flew off as he sailed through the air, the other underneath him cushioning his fall on the icy ground. This one died immediately, Link rolling off of its corpse from the force of the throw, stopping just feet away from it.

Link quickly scrambled to his feet, looking up. The pale, muscular giant with the iron helmet, Gabora, had exited the cabin, its door wide open. Gabora had walked into the crowd of tektites, at its center, his massive weapon swinging back and forth, the hammer impaling several tektites with each blow and sending them dead in multiple directions.

Link was only to be distracted by this for a moment, looking to see the tektite that had been on top of him scurrying in his direction. Link turned to see his shield a few feet away from him; it had been the only thing he'd lost in the throw, his sword still in his left hand and his now tattered coat still adorning him. The tektite lunged, Link sidestepping and bringing his sword up to kill it all in the same motion.

"Ugo ugo!" Gabora exclaimed furiously, two tektites having jumped onto his arm after the last swing of his hammer. He grabbed both of them with his free hand and closed them tightly in a balled fist, crushing them and then allowing their shattered bodies to fall back to the ground. He then brought his hammer down again to strike the three that had leapt at him through the air, their screeches cut short.

Tatl stood, mouth aghast at the giant, glad now that she hadn't seriously considered taking the supplies they needed by force.

Link went for his shield, a few tektites breaking off from the apparently invincible giant to charge after him. After acquiring the Hylian relic, the battle ensued, Link's blade cutting through the multitude of creatures as Gabora's hammer did triple the damage just beside him.

The waves coming from the cave soon reversed, the crab-like creatures retreating at the appearance of the monster much bigger than they were. The Kokiri sword slayed its last tektite, and then Link took a step backward, panting as Gabora followed the fleeing crowd to make sure they did not turn back around, his hammer taking a few more as he swung it behind them threateningly.

"That was intense," Tatl commented, looking back and forth at the corpses now littering the area. She then turned to see Link, still breathing in and out heavily, bent over with his hands on his knees. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Link said, bringing his back up and sheathing his sword and shield, wiping his forehead with the back of his glove.

"Your coat definitely isn't," the fairy replied, Gabora turning away from the cave he'd sent the tektites all running back down. He went to go back to the Mountain Smithy, which Link and Tatl stood in front of him, his hammer placed back over his shoulder.

Link looked down as Tatl said this, peering at the place where he knew his black scar was hidden. His hand went to it, a hole in the coat there revealing the green tunic underneath. "It didn't... do anything, did it?" Tatl asked, following his gaze.

Link shook his head, bringing his hand down and turning back to her.

"That's not the whole story, is it?" Tatl asked, concerned.

"I... asked it to." He looked away after saying this, as if ashamed of the fact. "Obviously I don't know how it works yet. I guess it's a good thing it didn't... overpower me." He stopped, recollecting his thoughts and turning back to the fairy. "But what about you?"

"Me?"

"Apparently you haven't told me the whole story either."

Tatl, Link not looking away after he said this, glanced down as she opened her mouth, stammering for words.

"Ugo-oh!" Gabora yelled, startling Tatl, both of them turning to behold their savior, now just in front of them.

The fairy sighed after this scare, shaking her head and turning away from Link. "Thank you... Gabora," Tatl said, flying up to be in front of his hidden face. She thought she could see a completely white eyeball from inside of the slit of the metal, lacking any pupil, but wasn't entirely sure. The giant laughed in response to her thanks, walking passed her and back into the cabin.

Tatl, before following suite, turned back to Link, whom she found still looking at her worriedly. She responded by only looking at him sadly, before flying back into the cabin without another word, Link right behind her.

Gabora continued walking until he reached the counter, easily jumping over onto the other side, turning around just in time to stare at the two customers once again entering their shop. Link walked until Zubora was in view, still sitting on the couch, Tatl flying out to be beside him.

The blacksmith looked up at the two standing before him in bafflement, everyone silent for a few moments. "My coat!" he finally exclaimed.

Tatl's sadness instantly began to subside after this comment, shaking her head at what he'd just said. "Your _coat_?" she shrieking, her anger rising instantly. Tatl's expression contorted into that of rage, flying down on Link's shoulder and pulling it off of him, his scabbard and shield falling to the floor. "Here's... your _coat_." She then flung it across the table on top of him, Zubora batting it off of himself and sitting up straight. "We just dove into that nest of tektites and got the hot spring water you asked for, and almost died right in front of your shop. And all you can think about is your stupid _coat_?"

"You... got the hot spring water?" he asked, his eyes suddenly shining.

"Yeah, and I have half the mind to splash it all over your face!" the fairy exclaimed, staring directly at him. The shopkeeper, finding her gaze hard to meet, turned to the boy beside her.

"She seems a little angry," Zubora said, speaking now to Link.

"_A little angry_?" Tatl exclaimed, flying to be closer to him. "I'll show you a-"

"Tatl," Link said, interrupting her.

"_What?_" she asked, spinning around to face him. Her anger only met a smile on his face, however.

"Maybe you should wait outside," he said, his smiling calming her slightly, rather than making her more upset.

The fairy, at first inclined to yell back at him, merely sighed, flying to the door. "That's actually a good idea. I'd probably have had that bum beaten to a bloody pulp by the end of our conversation."

Link turned away from her as she left the room, shaking his head as he let his smile go, the cold once again beginning to seize him more sharply, now that he was in only his tunic.

"Is she with you _all_ the time?" Zubora asked.

"Yes," Link answered, nodding his head as he walked over to the hearth. "It's normal for her to get upset over other people's stupidity, though."

Zubora's smile was gone at this, opening his mouth to say something, just as Link opened one of his two bottles, it hot to touch, and poured the hot spring water over the frozen hearth. The ice instantly began melting away, water falling to the wooden floor and covering the counter. With the bottle eventually empty, the hearth was soon completely thawed. Zubora jumped to his feet as soon as this happened, finally off of the couch, leaning over the desk as his eyes were now alive with happiness.

"Ugoh-ooooh! Ugoh! Ugo-a-go-go!" Gabora began cheering happily, waving his hammer around excitedly.

"You've done me a great favor!" Zubora exclaimed, his mouth curled into a smile, the insults Link and Tatl had thrown at him forgiven. "My dearest apologizes, Mr...?"

"Link," he answered, corking the bottle and putting it back into his bag, reaching in it for another one.

"Mr. Link!" Zubora exclaimed happily, turning back to him. "This hearth can finally go to work for me! Anything you need for your journey, just..." Then his gaze found what was now in Link's hand: a bottle, filled with something sparkling with a golden brilliance. His smile turned into an expression of awe.

"Why, if it isn't gold dust! And it's even top quality!" Zubora's smile soon returned, walking around the table to stand in front of it and just before Link. His eyes greedily beheld it, before turning back up to meet the eyes of the hero who had retrieved it. "Why, even if I use it to reforge your sword, there'll still be some left..." He paused, as if thinking, before continuing.

"You'll still be able to though, right?" Link asked, bending down to pick up his scabbard lying on the ground, sliding the Kokiri blade out. He held it in front of the blacksmith to see, Zubora's eyes going back and forth to it and the bottle.

"All right!" Zubora exclaimed. "Just for you, I'll do this for free. But don't tell anyone!" He took the sword and the gold dust, turning to his counter and placing both on its surface.

"So, obviously I'll need winter clothes... and explosives?" Link asked, the blacksmith's back now towards him. "I got bitten by one of the tektites too, and emptied all of my drinking water filling it with gold dust and hot spring water, so if you could help me out with those two things as well..."

"Of course," Zubora said, after a moment's pause, turning around to face him, his smile not as wide as it had been. "In return for the hearth and the gold dust."

"And the tektites."

"Right...," he said, looking away before turning back. "But your sword won't be done for at least twenty-four hours. Do you have to leave before then?"

Link, not having thought about this, instantly shook his head. "Yes, I have to leave as soon as possible."

Zubora sighed, looking down and away, before springing right back up, having had an idea. "Gabora! Fetch our customer that Razor Sword, quick-like!"


	26. The Cold

_Chapter 26: The Cold_

Tatl sat on the porch of the Mountain Smithy, the door behind her closed. The snow was still falling lightly, it beginning to collect on the many dead tektites strewn about on the frozen grass. She stared at the cave they had come from silently, only a sliver of its dark depths visible from where she sat. Her eyes were wide, shining with fear.

The snow had been fierce when she had flown north, as she'd approached the cave opening, it perfectly circular. The Skull Kid had gone in far ahead of her, herself having been following secretly behind. She floated now just in front of it, staring into its darkness forebodingly. She crept closer towards it, afraid, knowing that this cave lead into the last mountain of Snowhead that belonged to Termina.

Tatl, beginning to shiver from fear as much as the cold, began to inch her way into it, away from the snow... and the light...

The door to the Mountain Smithy opened behind her. Tatl jumped up, turning around to see Link stepping out onto the porch, a smile on his face as he closed the door behind him. He was dressed warmly, the brown coat he now had on thicker than the last, his legs now covered by thick pants as well. In addition to his sword, shield, and usual bag, a large sack was now thrown over his right shoulder, it filled with something the fairy could not see. His green hat was still on top of his head, despite the rest of his costume change, the hood on his jacket not yet pulled over.

"Tatl," Link began, his smile beginning to die when he saw her startled expression. "... What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "What's in the bag?"

"Bombs," Link answered, shouldering it into a more comfortable position and going down the steps. "He advised that I took four of them."

"Oh," Tatl replied simply, following beside him as they pressed for the continuation of the path. Link eyed her worriedly before turning away, wondering if he should wait for her to bring up the conversation he knew they were about to have.

Link and Tatl were soon once again on a narrow walkway in between two towering rock walls, the Mountain Smithy, tektite nest, and cliff disappearing from view. The sun had progressed another hour, though it had begun to vanish behind clouds, the white snowflakes dancing through the air lightly.

"Zubora gave me another sword," Link said, sliding it out of the scabbard with his spare hand. He showed it to her, the fairy looking at it with feigned interest. The blade seemed much sharper, the Kokiri blade shorter, thinner, and dull in comparison.

"That's neat," Tatl commented, Link raising an eyebrow as he sheathed it.

"No wise crack about Zubora?" Link inquired. "The guy was a pretty big jerk. I would have been on the same page you were if it wasn't for the fact that we needed his bombs, clothes, and water. Not to mention medicine; that tektite could have been diseased."

"No, you're right," the fairy responded. "We needed him; I shouldn't have gotten so mad."

"Stop," Link unexpectedly said, shaking his head and looking up at Tatl. The fairy stopped flying, but took a moment to turn around. "What is it that's bothering you? Is it about the cave?"

The fairy sighed, turning around and beginning to continue flying. "We might as well keep walking while we talk." Link nodded agreement, traveling up the steep slope and listening. She didn't say anything, however.

"So it leads to the other side of the mountains?" Link persisted. There was no response, Tatl still just ahead of him and staring off as she flew. "You did always act pretty weird whenever I brought that up. But you'd always told me you didn't know..."

"I was lying," the fairy said simply. Link hadn't expected her to admit this so easily. "Or... I was _kind of_ lying. I'm still not entirely sure that I understand it, but I don't think I want to."

"It's obviously pretty important, though, if you decided to blurt it out right before those tektites attacked," Link pointed out. "Why didn't you ever try to tell me all those other times we almost died?"

"Because it wasn't on my mind then," Tatl said, sounding slightly defensive. "You should know, Mr. Memory Repressor!" There was a long pause after this, the fairy realizing what she'd said, and looking back. Link's blue eyes merely met hers with the same deep sadness they always seemed to have, regardless of what mood he was in. She then turned back away and stared at the ground as she flew.

"I'm such an idiot!" Tatl said, shaking her head. "Link, I didn't mean to say that. I know I can be really insensitive sometimes, but I promise that was an accident. Here I am, complaining, when you're the one who's... lost more than I can even imagine."

Link did not reply immediately, looking up at the falling snow as he walked and thought of his next response. Flakes had begun to chill his head, the hat he always wore thin, finally deciding to pull the hood over his ears. "I haven't lost everything yet, though," Link said. "I still have you." Tatl hadn't expected this remark, not turning around or replying. "And you shouldn't compare what I've been through with what you have. Majora's Mask isn't exactly anything to be taken lightly, so if it's got to do with it..."

"I'm not sure," Tatl replied, the fairy stopping and turning to face him now. "But, can we please not talk about it right now?" Link, at first not sure how to respond, was spared the need to, the fairy continuing. "I blurted out what I said because... you and I have gotten really close, and I didn't want either of us to die, with one of us still having secrets from the other. I know I acted really weird whenever you brought up what was on the other side of the mountains, and I know we've almost died before, but this time...

"It was fresh on my mind. Every step we took in that cave, I heard those _voices_ again, and everything they said started coming back to me. I think, everything that happened that day, I started pushing out of my memory, because I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to..." She stopped, choked once more, as she had been in the cave. "... have to come to terms with the fact that what they were saying was probably the truth. I..."

"Tatl, you don't have to say anything else," Link said, making sure to look firmly in her direction. "I know exactly how you feel, and honestly, I probably don't even have all of my memory back yet either. You don't have to tell me what you don't feel comfortable thinking about, just remember that... we're going to end up near the borders of Termina. Last time we were there, in the forest, you know what happened when I saw Zelda. I'd hate to think what would happen if it started trying to play tricks on you too. It shows us what we fear the most, what we don't want to think about.

"I just want you to promise that, before we get that far, we should make sure to have talked about everything. Because if we're going to survive up there, I think we both have to understand one another, completely, so that we can be prepared for the illusions and tricks we'll both have to face." He waited for her to respond, but the fairy eventually decided to nod, casting her eyes to the side afterward.

"Just please don't leave me," Link persisted, taking a step closer. "And I don't mean physically; I mean, your sarcasm, and sense of humor. I think it's the only thing keeping me sane anymore, so if you keep acting all depressed like this, well... I'll probably be joining in soon, and that would make for an awful adventure. You and I... somberly hiking across Termina without saying a word."

Tatl smiled as he said this, looking down at him to see that he was now too. "Don't be ridiculous," she said. "My cynicism is going anywhere anytime soon."

Link nodded his head, taking the first step to continue their walk, the fairy following. "Good. So how about that wise crack on Zubora?"

"Psh, that bum doesn't deserve a witty insult," Tatl began, shaking her head. "I bet he never even got off the couch, even after I left."

"He did, actually," Link responded. "It shocked me too."

"I don't understand why Gabora protects him like that," the fairy pondered. "I bet he justs sits there all day even _when_ his shop's open! That poor giant probably does all of the forging too."

Link shrugged. "As long as I get my weapon when we go back, it doesn't make a difference. It was weird parting with it; I've had it ever since the first day of my adventure in Hyrule."

"And how's this adventure in comparison, so far?" Tatl asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned to him.

"Well, I'm pretty sure the near death experience toll is about even," he said, shaking his head slowly. "I feel like I was able to stand my ground more often there. Here... what with the Skull Kid's magic and all... I feel a lot more helpless."

"Yeah, I understand the feeling." Tatl turned away gloomily, looking up to see their path was now blocked. Rocks had slid down from both sides at some point in time, now covered in snow and ice; from wall to wall, there was no way around, the way over much too tall as well.

Link approached the road block slowly, craning his head up from inside of the hood to see how high it went. "I guess it's time to see if his explosives are worth anything." He slung the bag off of his shoulders and plopped it onto the icy, rock ground, loosening its mouth and pulling out one of the large, black orbs. He placed one in front of the rocks, lit the fuse with one of Zubora's matches, and ran, grabbing the rest of the bombs as he did.

Link and Tatl, from a safe distance, watched the spark of fire travel closer towards the body of the bomb, it the only sound in the still mountain pathway. As soon as the string ran out, warmth and light filled the air, the explosion shattering the silence as well as the rocks. Link held up his gloved hand as the bursts of hot air bellowed over where they hid, the fire no where near them as the now shattered rocks rained down from where they'd been blown into the sky. Link walked out from behind the wall he'd been hiding behind, standing tall, as soon as the last of the debris had fallen, Tatl twinkling by his side.

"Success!" Tatl exclaimed.

Link nodded in agreement, shouldering the bombs and continuing up the path, walking around and over the scorched rocks. The mountain pathway continued snaking upward, the slope increasing as did the rate of snow falling.

"Let's just hope his smithing skills are as good as his pyrotechnical skills."

"Uh," the fairy started, shaking her head, "I don't think he made those bombs, Link. He probably bought them."

"Oh, yeah," Link said, blushing slightly from underneath the hood. He cleared his throat before adding something else. "He'd still better not mess up my Kokiri blade."

* * *

"Gabora! How's our customer's fine new blade coming along?"

"Ugoh ugo ugo!"

Zubora sighed as he put his hands behind his head, putting his feet up on the desk as he sat on the couch. "It's good to know our months out of business haven't cost you your magic touch." He turned towards the window, the light of the hearth reflecting off of the glass, though not completely taking the place of an outside view. Zubora grimaced at the sight of the snow, which was now coming down fiercely, turning his eyes back towards the counter. Behind it, Gabora stood in front of the metal oven, pounding on the bright red blade of the Kokiri sword with a small hammer, the bottle of golden dust laying on the counter next to his massive war hammer.

"Ugo!"

Zubora shook his head, turning back to the snow as he laid back leisurely. "If this nasty weather keeps up, we might not be able to keep the hearth going." The giant did not respond, the small man turning to look ahead, his eyes beginning to feel heavier with each blink. It had now been several hours since the boy and his fairy had left, but it was impossible to tell exactly how long, given the cloudy sky that covered the sun.

He began to think about how odd it was that the two of them had been in the mountains in the first place, so unprepared. He thought they both appeared to belong in the forest, and didn't think they'd be able to last much longer if the snow got any worse. Zubora's mind then turned to the moon, and then the Carnival of Time. He remembered running through the streets as a child on the eve of the holiday, looking up into the sky with wide, gleeful eyes as the clock tower rose high into the air, the fire works booming around it. He remembered running around to go to the top, his childhood friends by his side as they were suddenly able to see around all of Termina in the cool night air.

Then, he thought something was wrong with this memory. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as this confliction shot across his mind, his eyes closed now as he drifted further into sleep. He thought he saw something other than Termina from the top of the clock tower; he thought he saw a different land. It was the feeling of the other hand in his that seemed to shake this image, the warmth and comfort it brought sharp, tearing away the image of Clock Town. Suddenly, he was on top of some other tower, but it seemed somehow more familiar than Termina ever did. The hand in his own seemed to shatter any recollection of the Carnival of Time, as if it were an illusion, as if it had actually taken place somewhere else, the night where he'd first held hands with what would become his first love in some other place.

It confused him, but the fingers that were wrapped around his own seemed so much more realistic than the booms of the fireworks and cheers of the crowd...

It was at that moment that the door to the Mountain Smithy burst open.

Zubora snapped from his state of drowsiness and brought his hands down, planting them firmly on the couch on either side of him as his head turned to the doorway. Gabora, who'd been steadily forging the sword, looked up from his work, small hammer in midair ready to be brought back down.

A tall, slim figure stepped into the room, by itself, snow whirling in around it as the door opened, the wind swishing in the cold. It was cloaked, from head to toe, in a dark garment, a hood drawn over its head and face, gloves hiding its hands, the chilled air swirling around its ankles as the door was closed behind it.

With the closing of the door, there was then silence, the figure that had entered keeping its head down, in the direction of the counter. It did not move or say anything, everything silent, Zubora's expression beginning to show concern, tension filling the air. It did not seem to have anything on its person, the figure in the dark cloak with no visible bag or equipment.

When still nothing happened, and no said anything, Gabora slowly set down his utensil in the hearth and took a step towards the counter, his hand reaching out to wrap around the handle of his weapon of choice, though still not lifting it from the counter, looking cautiously at the figure with its head down in his direction.

"... Hello," Zubora said nervously, clearing his throat when he realized how weak he'd sounded. The figure did not turn in his direction. "Are you a customer?"

"Did a blonde boy and fairy pass through here?" It spoke in a very deep, powerful, commanding voice, portraying also that it was male. The hooded male did not acknowledge that Zubora had asked him anything, continuing to hide in the shadow of its hood while facing the pale giant.

Zubora wasn't sure what to say, coughing slightly before smiling and attempting to dispel the hostility in the atmosphere. "I'm not sure what you're talking about," he began coolly. "We haven't had a customer here in ages. Just look at the storm out there! This winter hasn't exactly made it very easy for us to-"

"- Did they say where they were headed?"

Zubora scoffed at this, shaking his head and continuing to force the smile on his face. "Listen, we forge weapons. We don't take part in any-."

"-Stop wasting my time and tell me what I want to know," the hooded figured said bluntly, still not having moved. "Or I will make you talk."

Zubora's smile slowly faded at this statement, goosebumps breaking out along his body as he visibly sank in his couch. His eyes then darted to his bodyguard. "Gabora!" he exclaimed. The giant immediately lifted the hammer off of the counter and flung himself over it. The male hidden in his cloak reacted by taking a step backwards, and then lifting its head while Gabora brought his hammer back high into the air.

However, that was all that happened. Zubora, who had sat upright in his chair when Gabora had decided to attack, began to grow confused when he saw his companion remaining where he'd been, hammer raised to strike. The giant creature seemed frozen, in the exact position he'd been as soon as the hooded figure had risen its head to make eye contact with him.

The blacksmith sunk into dismay when he realized Gabora was _paralyzed_, unable to move. He was petrified in place, only slight tremors in his body visible, as if every muscle in his body was straining to break free of whatever hold had gripped him, but unable to do so. Small grunting noises could be heard from within his throat, too, as if this intruder had managed to seize those as well.

The cloaked man continued staring directly into the face of the horrified Gabora, who helplessly looked into the depths of the hood Zubora was unable to see. This lasted for only a few moments, and then the giant collapsed, falling to the ground, unconscious, with a mighty thump, the hammer rolling out of his limp hands.

Then, the dark figure turned to face him, head down as he slowly made his way to the desk.

Zubora was now visibly shaking, as he brought his legs up against his chest, huddling now for fear on the couch as the attacker made his way toward him. "Wh-what are you?" he asked, his eyes beginning to widen, unable to see the face still hidden in shadows.

It did not respond, stopping as soon as it reached the desk separating them, its head still down. Zubora's breathing was heavy now, almost hyperventilating as he waited for something to happen, this man still keeping his face to the floor. Then, he shot his head up, and Zubora's eyes widened at what he saw.

The blood in his veins froze, his muscles seizing, not able to obey any signals hastily being sent from his brain. He was stuck in the position he'd been in as soon as he'd looked into the depths of the mask, his pupils dilating madly. The face underneath the hood was a greenish brown, decayed and rotting, its skin pulled tight against bone, the flesh sickly and dead. It appeared to be the face of a man who'd been rotting in his coffin, his mouth slightly agape, his jaw crooked, the inside of his mouth dark, no teeth or tongue visible. His eyes were entirely missing, merely dark pits, Zubora's drawn into them.

The creature did not remove the hood, staring at the frozen blacksmith with an expression that did not waver in the slightest, it seemingly as still as the body it had petrified.

Zubora's mind, racing from fear and hardly coherent, returned to stories told in his youth that he'd never believed, of undead creatures: ReDeads.

"Did the boy and his fairy pass through here?" it asked, its lips not moving as it spoke, the face completely frozen, the voice not matching with the perfectly restrained face.

Zubora's lips quivered, not even thinking about the fact that he was speaking despite the fact that Gabora had been unable to. "I... I...," he stammered, his eyes unable to tear themselves away, his legs and arms just as incapable of movement. "... Why do you w-w-want... to k-know?"

Suddenly, Zubora's left arm was thrust sideways involuntarily, it violently ripping his shoulder out of its socket. The arm remained there in the air awkwardly, Zubora unable to move it or bring it down as he screamed in pain, still staring wide-eyed at the figure towering over him.

"Ahhhh!" Tears welled in Zubora's eyes, his muscles sore as they were rigidly held in place against their will, the pain in his shoulder excruciating. "Y-you're not a ReDead," Zubora stammered, wanting more than anything to look away from the deep black pits. "They just petrify... Y-y-you moved my arm!"

Zubora, to his dismay, heard a small laugh, not able to comprehend why it came out so clearly despite the immobility of its face. "I've taken their natural ability and... advanced it. If you answer my questions, you won't have to find out how far." Zubora's back, at these words, began to straighten itself without his control, his legs coming down to touch the floor, his injured arm continuing to stick out at an odd angle with the other one tense by his side. The figure... had forced him to stand up, Zubora's eyes staring directly into its own the entire time, it not having had to move to accomplish any of this.

His mind was frozen in terror, scrambling now for words. "Uh-h, t-they... they were here and I'm... fixing their sword for them b-because they... went into that cave and brought back..."

"Where did they go!" the hooded figure exclaimed, Zubora's shoulder flaring up to an even higher level of pain, the muscles within his arm forced to do something unnatural once more.

"I don't know, I don't know!" Zubora screamed now, wishing to squeeze his eyes shut and change his position, but unable to do both. "They said they had some sort of business to attend to further north in Snowhead! They acted like they were in a hurry!" The hooded figure listened intently, not breaking eye contact and maintaining its grip on the blacksmith as it thought. Zubora, worried at the silence and intensity of its gaze, opened his mouth to say more. "I was doing business with them, I promise! I don't have any idea what's going on here!"

At that moment, the hooded figure turned away. Immediately, Zubora fell limply to the floor, landing heavily on his shoulder and knocking the breath out of himself. He would have screamed, but found no air capable of allowing this to happen. Laying now on the floor, he blinked for the first time since he's seen the intruder's face, looking up from underneath the table to see it turn around, walk across the room, and leave the Mountain Smithy, closing the door behind itself before too much snow had been able to whistle its way in.

All was silent again, Zubora catching his breath as he laid crippled on the floor, Gabora still unconscious in the middle of the room just beside his hammer.

* * *

Link was shivering, his entire body trembling back and forth as he unloosened the bag holding his remaining two bombs. Tatl looked down at him in concern, flying just above him and beginning to shiver herself, her light somewhat dim in the fierce snow coming down from the dark sky. Link was kneeling before another road block on the mountain path that had continued twisting upward, shakily pulling the bomb out and accidentally dropping it in the snow.

He sighed, picking it back up and brushing the snow off before setting it down in front of the rocks, the hood covering his face hardly as effective as it had been earlier. The cold wind stung bitterly, it beginning to even penetrate the warm layers Zubora had given him. "Link?" Tatl said, as he reached back into his bag and brought out another match.

"Y-y-yeah?" he said, their journey having been silent ever since the cold had begun setting in.

"I think we've still got a while to go before we reach the Goron Village."

Link, trying to restrain his teeth from chattering, struck the match and brought it down to the fuse. It took him several attempts before this was done successfully. "Th-thanks. That's just what I needed to hear right now." He stood straight up, backing away from the rocks and turning back to his fairy.

Tatl scoffed, before responding. "I was just saying that because we might want to think about-"

It was at that moment that the bomb misfired; the explosion occurred much sooner than it should have, the pressure resulting from the heat and fire sending Link off of his feet. Tatl was effected by it only momentarily before she flew up and out of the way, looking down to see Link slam face first into a higher area of the rock wall bordering the path. Its surface was icy and hard, Link falling backward as soon as he slammed into it, to then fall several feet down into the snow.

He laid there without moving, Tatl hastily flying down to him, avoiding a rock raining down from the sky before making it to his side. "Link!" she exclaimed, coming to see his face, his eyes closed, hood having been forced back with his bare skin touching the snow.

Link opened his eyes, laying there for only a moment before attempting to push himself up, his eyes rolling back into his head from the cold when his hands gave out and he face planted once more into the soft, cold ground. "Are you burnt?"

Link shook his head. "I'm... f-fine." He eventually got back to his feet, shaking more than ever now, hunched over painfully and limping into his next step.

"No, you're not," Tatl said, flying to stop him from walking.

"What does it matter?" Link asked angrily. "We can't turn back now. We've been walking for hours."

"I know, but we can't make it all the way there either. I think there might be a cave nearby." Link, at these words, looked at her gravely. The fairy shook her head at this. "Not _the_ cave. But one where we can at least rest and wait out the storm." Link looked off, as if considering for a moment, and then nodded his head, beginning to limp forward once more while bent over. He passed the rock debris and left behind the bag holding the remaining bomb, Tatl almost reminding him he'd forgotten it before thinking better of it.

The ensuing journey was painful and long, though it only lasted half an hour. The rock walls bordering the walkway eventually vanished, opening up into a much wider terrain. It wasn't possible to make out much about the geography of the area in the thick snow and dark sky, and the path was completely covered and no longer visible, the way forward ambiguous without the rock walls on either side to guide him. The fairy nervously lead him through the snowy valley, looking left and right but unable to find her bearings, constantly turning around to make sure Link was still limping behind her.

Eventually, Tatl approached a distant mountain wall, a very wide opening in its side.

"I found it!" Tatl exclaimed, turning around to see Link look up at her with no matching enthusiasm. Her smile quickly faded, and she lead him into the shelter of the cave. It did not have much depth to it, containing no dark tunnels leading into the mountain side. There was merely enough room for the snow to not enter in its entirety, Link eying the dark back wall and walking towards it. The remains of a fire could be seen in the farthest corner of the cave, cold, dark ashes littering the remaining wood. He sat next to this, up against the wall, looking at the wide mouth of the cave and wishing it was smaller, for it didn't do all that great of a job of keeping the cold out.

Tatl flew in just beside him, watching him in concern as he brushed the snow off of his coat and continued shivering, now huddled in the corner. He opened the flap of his bag and pulled out another match, striking it several times on the cold rock before finally getting a flame, bringing it down towards the would-be fire. It wasn't long before he had one started, Link holding his hands out above it, while occasionally adjusting the wood to improve the flames.

"I g-guess, we're not the first ones to hide the weather out in here," Link commented, his shivering beginning to slow as the small flames grew larger.

"I bet it's been like this for a while," Tatl said, turning to look at the snow before going back to him. "Though I guess it's not always _this_ bad, or else the people before wouldn't have been able to find wood. Hopefully the storm will let up a little bit."

"I'm fine waiting here for now," Link said. "I don't think we're in much danger of being followed, with that weather out there."

"I wouldn't push anything passed the Skull Kid," Tatl said.

They sat in silence for a time after that, Tatl eventually finding a comfortable position on a rock while Link continued warming himself by the fire. Eventually, feeling began to return in the body parts having grown numb, though with that came the pain and soreness resulting from the bomb mishap. He gladly took this pain, however, in place of the deadening limbs brought on by the snow. It continued storming fiercely outside, Link deciding they would be there for a while.

He pulled out a piece of hard, cold bread from inside of his bag and warmed it in the fire, before beginning to tear off pieces and eat it. It was anything but satisfying, but fulfilled his hunger, nonetheless. Once half the loaf was gone, it rolled it back up and stowed it away, turning to notice something for the first time. Tatl was lying on a rock only a few feet away from him, turned away and looking at the snow, but there was something else about what she was doing he hadn't realized: she was crying.

Link's expression darkened at this, and he quietly scooted away from the fire towards her, waiting to speak until he was just behind her.

"Tatl?"

The fairy sprung off the rock as soon as Link said this, quickly rubbing the tears out of her eyes. "Oh, sorry, I was just..."

"You were crying," Link answered for her.

"I...," the fairy stopped, however, as if she'd at first intended to deny it, but thought herself incapable of doing that. She looked off sadly once more, flying uncertainly closer towards him as her eyes made sure to never meet his. "I'm so scared, Link."

She then flew to his shoulder, Link shocked as she wrapped her small arms around it and rested her head there. He slowly brought one hand down on top of her gently, the fairy crying once more, except this time on him. "It was black, Link. _Everything_. As far as you could see, it was just darkness. It was a field of ashes, and debris, and... _death_. And the voices said that's what Termina was, that's what _I_ was. They told me I was just a shadow, and that everything here was nothing, a lie... a realm of shadows." She sniffled now, Link listening to everything she said intently.

"Tatl..."

"I tried to tell myself they were lying, but...," she trailed off, no longer crying, but her eyes still filled with tears. "I don't think they were. The more I think about it, the more I think about how... _off_ this place is, how no one seems to remember much about their past, or where they came from. And I realize that I don't either. No one wants to think about what's outside of Termina, and I think that's because... deep down inside... we all know. We all know that there's just darkness, and that's all we are..."

"Tatl, stop," Link said. "That's not true. You're not just a shadow; I promise you that."

"But everything I saw," Tatl continued. "Link, I think the Skull Kid was right. It is the truth."

Link looked off, his face worried as he tried to think of something to say, to try and relay to her how he knew this wasn't true. Then, he had an idea. Link, still holding Tatl with one hand on his shoulder, scooted closer towards the mouth of the cave, where snow barely dotted the cold floor. He then took one finger and begin to draw it through the white crystals, Tatl looking down from his shoulder when he got her attention to show her what he'd done.

Link had drawn a symbol in the snow, what appeared to be a crescent moon with two diagonal lines back-slashing through it. Tatl, at first uncertainly rubbing her eyes, realized what it was. She remembered being trapped in Woodfall Temple, underneath the trap floor; it was then, when they'd been waiting to die, that she had drawn this symbol to comfort Link. It was a character from a dead language the Skull Kid had taught her; it meant love.

"You're not just darkness, Tatl," Link continued. "You are something; the love I have for you is real. Our friendship... proves that you're more than what the Skull Kid thinks you are." Tatl, her tears disappearing, now only softly sniffling, smiled at this, turning to look up at Link, who returned the expression.

"Thanks," she said, rubbing her eyes once more before hugging him tightly again. "You mean a lot to me, Link. I think you're all that's keeping me sane anymore, too."

Link laughed lightly at this. "Now let's keep each other sane closer towards the fire," Link suggested, scooting back further into the cave. "I'm not ready to get cold again just yet."

Tatl laughed in return, and soon the two of them were laying up against the back wall of the cave, before the fire, Tatl hugging his shoulder tightly while he rested one hand on her. The fire continued crackling with life as they dozed off into sleep, the snow beating down fiercely only feet away.

* * *

"Skull Kid!" The purple fairy stopped once more, looking back and forth aimlessly in the heavy snowfall. He could hardly see a few feet in any direction, the sky almost black and the precipitation thick. The field of snow stretched on in every direction, no mountain wall giving him any bearings. "Skull Kid!"

There was still no response. The cold was starting to get to him, Tael's nerves beginning to grow with no shelter in sight. He'd passed through the Goron Village hours ago, knowing the Skull Kid would be much further north.

Tael, sighing, continued flying onward, pressing through the blizzard in what he hoped was the correct direction. Eventually, mountainous walls came into view, the fairy excitedly flying to them as soon as they were noticed. Flying along the steep, rocky slope, he eventually found a break in the them.

It was the opening of a cave, which seemed to him perfectly circular. Tael stopped when he reached its mouth, looking inside; it disappeared into darkness, the opening itself not very large. Tael stared into it for a moment, for some reason feeling uneasy to be anywhere near it. When a shiver ran through him again, he decided to ignore it, going inside. He spotted what seemed to be the remains of a fire, and hope sprung inside of him.

"Skull Kid!" Tael exclaimed, his voice echoing down into the darkness, which seem to go down far into the mountain. There was no response, the fairy worriedly floating further into the cave, the snow still whistling loudly behind him.

He took a deep breath before going further in, the light of day beginning to fade with each flutter of his wings. Tael then reached a corner, turning around one last time to look at the outside world before going to go around the corner.

However, when he turned back around, he found himself face to face with Majora's Mask. Tael gasped in shock, flying back against the wall at the masked imp who stared at him, unmoving. He'd appeared there without making a noise, the orange eyes of his mask practically glowing in the darkness.

"Skull Kid," Tael said, after a moment's recovery, gulping when the Skull Kid remained standing in the dark of the cave, staring at him. "Uh, you weren't..." He stammered, not sure if he should continue, the gaze of Majora more intimidating than it usually was, the imp's silence emphasizing this. "... At the top of the tower."

Tael remained hovering in place nervously, until the Skull Kid took a step closer towards him, followed by another, and then another. The distance between them dwindled with each step, Tael pushing himself back against the wall and beginning to breathe in and out nervously. "_Skull Kid_...," he said weakly, as if pleading.

The Skull Kid, however, merely walked passed him as soon as the corner was rounded. Tael turned his head, still shaking against the cave wall, as he watched the imp walk out of the cave and into the snow, and then fly away.

* * *

The sky was dull; it seemed just as devoid of emotion as he was. Link stared at the tombstone blankly. The tears were long gone, and now he knelled before the engraved slab of stone, the graveyard in the castle courtyard surrounded by high walls. His wide blue eyes did not waver, the grief in them deep. The wind did not stir and the sun did not shine; all seemed still, as if in mourning with him.

Link, still dressed in his green tunic, with his sword and shield sheathed, brought his left hand up near the smooth, cold, gray surface. He then gently traced the "Z" in her name with one finger, as if he were lovingly caressing her hands again.

"You'll come back, won't you?"

Those had been the last words he'd heard her speak; he remembered facing away from her, on Epona, ready to finally set off and leave the land of Hyrule behind. When she'd called his name, he'd turned to around to hear her utter this last sentence, and it was the last time he ever saw her.

"I promise." Link whispered what his response had been, his finger still on the end of the first letter of her name. His face contorted into sadness once more, as if preparing to cry, but the tears did not come. "I was just too late." Link brought his head down as he did the same with his hand, staring at the grass at the base of the stone.

"It's such a tragedy." Link turned to look over his shoulder when these words were spoken behind him, his eyes finding a tall man standing a few feet away. He was dressed in elegant, purple, Hylian robes, and hadn't made a sound approaching him; Link had entered the courtyard alone, and hadn't been expecting anybody.

Upon seeing the thin, red-headed man behind him, Link turned back to the tombstone without a word, still on his knees in front of the name of his lost lover. "It was so sudden, and unexpected," the mask salesman said, the large backpack not over his shoulders, his usually slouched back vertical. He remained standing a row of graves behind him, his eyes relaying sympathy despite their squinted nature, his usual smile not present. "And to be torn apart from her, when you were both so young... you have no idea how truly sorry I am."

"What do you want?" Link asked bluntly, not turning around from the grave. He'd been to the salesman's shop on more than one occasion, and had started seeing him around the castle not long before he ended up leaving to find Navi.

"I... don't want anything," the tall man said, taking a step closer to him and peering down. "... but to let you know how awful I feel. I wish there was something we could do."

"She's dead," Link said, his voice shaking. "There's no coming back from that."

"And where is it that she's not coming back from?"

Link opened his mouth, as if expecting some quick, blatant response to come, but none did. He, when he realized he had nothing to say, turned back around to face the mask salesman, whose eyes he immediately found. Link then got to his feet, back now to the tombstone.

"Does it matter?" he finally asked, blue eyes shining.

"I would think so," the salesman replied. "Don't you hope to see her again one day?"

Link glanced down at these words, pausing for a while again before finding a response. "I don't think that is any of your concern."

The mask salesman smiled slightly before he continued. "I'm just trying to help."

"Well, I don't need your help," Link said, walking to the exit of the courtyard, going passed the frowning mask salesman without throwing him another glance. The salesman watched as he disappeared into the hallways of the castle.

* * *

Link woke from his dream, a shiver running through him as he did so. His eyes went from Tatl, still lying on his shoulder, to the black embers of the fire. It appeared to have just gone out, the cold beginning to return. He shifted his weight, to find his body still sore from his mishap, but no longer searing with pain. The fairy awoke at this movement, yawning as she flew from his shoulder and stretched her arms, the full glow of her light returning.

"It's not as bad outside anymore," Tatl said, as the two of them continued to stir, the fairy flying to the mouth of the cave. The snow was still coming down, but now no longer in a full blizzard. "Maybe we should try and find the Goron Village before it gets bad again. We probably still have a couple of hours before the sun sets." She flew out to look up into the sky, which was still as dark and gray, though she knew it would be practically pitch-black, once night came.

"All right," Link said, getting to his feet and stretching himself. He put his bag back over his shoulders, his sword and shield never having been removed. He looked for the bomb bag for only a few seconds, before realizing it'd been left behind.

"Are you going to be all right to walk?" Tatl asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned back to him.

"Yeah, I should be fine," he said, uncertainly. "As long as the weather doesn't get bad again." The fairy retained her look of skepticism, Link eventually laughing lightly at it. "Are _you_ going to be all right?"

"Yes," Tatl said, much more sure of herself than he had been. "I think what you said really helped me."

Link smiled, leading the way out of the cave and back into the snow. "I'm glad."

"I mean, it really did," Tatl reasserted, as she flew beside him, Link reapplying his hood as the cave disappeared in the back ground, visibility much higher. "I'm not afraid anymore."

"As long as we have each other, we don't have to be," Link said, the two giving each other another glance before turning back to the road ahead of them.

Hardly a minute passed before the level of snowfall began to rise again, the flakes falling in quick succession, the winter weather already beginning to penetrate his warm clothing again. Tatl, who'd begun to notice this herself, turned to face him when she heard his teeth chatter. "Link? Are you okay?"

"I'm f-fine," Link said, the fairy also noticing a small limp, in addition to his shivering.

Tatl sighed, turning back to look up at the white plain ahead of them, squinting her eyes now in the precipitation. Then, she thought she saw something; it was a tall, thin shape, just capable of being made out in the snow.

"Hey!" Tatl exclaimed, peering closer, and getting Link to look in the same direction. It was off into the distance, standing by itself amidst the white landscape. "I think that might be a person."

"Really?" Link said, squinting from inside of his hood as he tried to make out the shape. "I think you're right." The two began walking towards it, their suspicions each immediately going towards the Skull Kid.

"You don't think-?"

"No," Tatl said immediately. "It's way too tall."

"But it's too thin to be a goron," Link added.

"And too small to be Gabora, but taller than Zubora."

"Why would it be them anyway?" Link inquired, hope now springing into both of them as they approached the far off figure.

"Good point, but what would _anybody_ be doing this far into Snowhead?"

"You mean besides looking to free a spirit giant to help stop the moon from destroying Termina?" Link inquired, throwing Tatl a smile before turning back.

"Exactly," she said sarcastically.

Link's boots crunched in the deep snow as he took heavy steps, reminding himself that he had his newly acquired Razor Sword, should anything go wrong. It had yet to be used, but Link's desire for guidance from the cold weather outweighed his eagerness for battle.

As they came closer, they noticed two things: the, tall, thin person had not taken a step closer to them, despite them obviously having approached him/her from quite a distance, and it was completely cloaked in black, a hood drawn over the face. Link's eyebrows furrowed at this, as did Tatl's, but they continued, nonetheless.

"Hey!" Link called, stopping their journey towards the mysterious person once there were only several feet separating them. It did not respond, keeping its head down as the wind violently blew from behind, directly into Link's face bitterly. "Hello?" Link tried once more. It still did not say anything or move, however, Tatl growing nervous by his side.

"Hey!" Tatl called out, now sounding offended. "He's trying to talk to you!" Still, there was nothing; only the sound of the now heavy snow answered them. Tatl opened her mouth to furiously relay her growing irritation, when she caught a warning look from Link. She sighed, rolling her eyes before opening her mouth to take a different approach. "Listen, if you can help us in any way, we'd be grateful. Please, you don't have to just stand there; we won't hurt you."

At this, the mysterious figure took its first step towards them, still saying nothing and keeping its head down. Its steps were long, Link instinctively taking a step backward and bringing his hand to his sword. It did not seem to be phased by this, however, not slowing its steady pace to finish closing the space between them.

"... He's armed!" Tatl exclaimed, sensing the tension in the air and looking down to Link nervously. "If you're about to try anything freaky, I'd better warn you that-" She was cut short, however, a sort of choking sound coming from her throat, as if she were being forcibly silenced. Link's head instantly shot to Tatl, who seemed frozen, held in place by some invisible force.

The boy turned back to the figure in black, looking to see that its head had shot up to look directly at them. It was as soon as this had happened that Tatl had stopped, herself already able to see what was in the depths of the hood, Link's eyesight still keeping it hidden barely in shadow.

"What did you do to her?" Link exclaimed, drawing his sword into his left hand now. It was at that moment that its brown, rotted, zombie-like face came into view. Instantly, the muscles in his body seemed to seize, suddenly stiff and immobile. He tried to bring his arm down, which only just managed to pull the sword out of its scabbard, his hand still not having made the journey to being in front of him. Next, he tried to move his eyes, but met the same resistance, their pupils fixated on the horror underneath the hood.

It was the face of a ReDead. Link tried to open his mouth to comment on the matter, but his jaw was locked as well. He heard grunting noises from Tatl, and realized she was in the exact same situation, both of them having lost every muscle in their body to the freezing stare of the undead. Link's mind was racing, never having seen one before that was clothed, or that could walk so smoothly and human-like.

The being had stopped its journey towards them, now merely standing there and forcing the two of them to stare into its deep, dark pits where eyes should be, its mouth appearing to be just as dark and void of life.

Then, out of his peripheral, he saw Tatl beginning to fly towards the cloaked creature. His mouth instantly went to scream out her name, but to no avail. The fairy was slowly making her way there, still making grunting noises and trembling slightly, as he was, but flapping her way in the direction of the attacker. It only took him a moment to realize this was happening against her will, also understanding immediately that this was no ordinary ReDead. Never before had he seen one capable of controlling another's actions, in addition to its ability to petrify.

And so, Link found himself completely powerless to stop what came next. Both of their bodies were at the complete mercy of this being. The most horrific part of it all, was the fact that he could not speak, or scream, or even turn to look at her. He could only watch, forced to do so in silence as his traveling companion was manipulated in to flying herself away from Link, tears beginning to well in her eyes as this happened.

The being moved for the first time since it had walked to confront them, reaching into its cloak with its gloved hand and pulling out a bottle, making sure to keep its face in their direction. Tatl stopped her flight as it removed the cork, but then helplessly flew her way into the container once this was accomplished, which was then sealed.

"Link!" Tatl screamed, regaining control of her body as soon as she found herself in the bottle, slamming into its glass surface, her voice muffled. The hooded figured continued staring at Link, however, the boy's expression incapable of changing, only able to shake slightly in place, his arm still at the awkward angle it had frozen in.

Link's dark blue eyes stared into its absent ones, its gaze deepening into his own, the muscles in his body becoming even tighter, this thing intensifying its grip on him. Pain began to fill him, himself not able to squeeze his eyes shut or groan; all he could do was continue staring into the hood. And, for a brief moment, he thought he saw a pair of eyes hidden in those deep pits, as if they were hidden beneath the surface of the ReDead face.

Link's head then exploded with pain, his vision blurred instantly and his ears ringing, collapsing to his knees as the cloaked figure turned away. Link fell from his knees to his side, his sword falling from his hand, his face finding itself planted in the snow, gritting his teeth in pain as he closed his eyes that had begun to water.

Link opened them to look up and see the attacker walking away, its back now to him, bottle in its hand, Tatl trapped inside. His head was still swimming, his vision bright lights and swirling colors, only barely able to make out the screaming fairy trying in vainly to escape.

"Tatl...," Link said, it only a whisper, trying to push off of the ground to get to his feet, his face numb. He was unable to do this, collapsing back into the snow on his stomach weakly. "Tatl!" He repeated once more, failing again in trying to get up. Link reached out his hand for the cloaked figure that was now far away from him, already disappearing from view into the blizzard, with his fairy.

"_Tatl!_" This last scream echoed far and wide, but it did him no good. Link could no longer afford enough energy to keep his head or hand lifted, both falling back down into the snow as he began to cry. "_No... come back... Tatl... you have to come back... I promised... I wouldn't lose you... You're all I have left!_"

No one heard his screams. The only answer he got was the whistling the snow, which began to pile itself on top of him as he remained lying there. The cold had intensified to such a level that he thought he no longer felt it anymore; it had rendered his body completely numb.

Link, after sobbing and deliriously screaming for a moment longer, realized the severity of his own situation. He stretched out an arm far ahead of him, pulling himself forward through the snow only once before realizing that crawling would not work. Too much snow was pushed into his face, and he didn't have enough strength to do it anyway.

He could only lie there, as the cold ate away at the remaining warmth left inside of him. The vision that had begun to return to him after the magic of his attacker, began to fade once more, except this time into unconsciousness. Link tried to fight it, but found the will he had left was waning.

His vision began to fade into blackness, as some dark, large figure began to approach him through the snow. "_No_...," Link mouthed, as the silhouette began to bend over him. "_She's gone... There's no coming back from that_."

Then he lost consciousness.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Anonymous, Ch. 1-6: Haha, thanks! It's nice to be reminded of earlier aspects of the story, through reviews such as those, especially with scenarios such as "Ink" and the bottled fairies!

Anonymous, Ch. 25: Thank you! I'm not sure if you're the same reviewer that sent the ones for chapters 1 through 6, but I definitely appreciate it either way. And I'm going to respectfully not comment on the Fierce Deity thing, though that is an interesting theory!


	27. Wasteland

Note: Throughout the story, I've been a little inconsistent in regards to capitalizing words such as "Deku", "Goron", and "Skull Kid". I think the pattern set here I will use from here on out, and will change however it's been used in the past when I get back to revising. Also, I've taken more liberty with the Snowhead storyline; rest assured, I won't be leaving anything prudent to the original version out, and will get there eventually.

* * *

_Chapter 27: Wasteland_

Link slowly began to wake up, the blanket he was comfortably under providing minimal warmth. His eyes opened expecting to find the ceiling of the Stock Pot Inn, where Tatl would be sleeping just across the room from him in a bed of her own. However, his eyes found something much different.

Link, having been laying up against the wall of a small room, quickly scrambled to his feet when he saw he was inside of an unfamiliar shack, with some large creature sitting just feet away. His blanket fell off from around his shoulders, revealing that he still wore his coat and pants in addition to his hat, though his bag, sword, and shield were no longer on his person. The round, dark being turned to look at him as he stood up.

It was a Goron. Its back was made of hard, rough rock, while its face and stomach seemed round and soft. The dark eyes looked at Link sadly, whose alarm began to subside when he saw this. The Goron had been sitting in another corner of the small shack, Link having been across from him. Other than the two of them, random possessions and a very limited amount of furniture filled the room, amounting to a table and bench. Neither were in use, the doorway a thick hide of some sort, leading directly into the outside world.

It was obvious the blizzard had not calmed. The bitter wind found its way into the humble abode easily, the swaying of the makeshift door revealing a thick downpour of snow, the stone floor near it dotted white.

Link's eyes traveled from the doorway, to the Goron, to eventually find that his paraphernalia was on the bench. He looked back at the large mountain dweller to see him still staring, appearing utterly depressed, and almost indifferent as to what Link might say or do.

"Did you... save me?" Link asked, the soreness from the previous day only a faint reminder of the faulty bomb. He still felt cold, however, as if carrying some deep bruise inside, that could not be warmed or healed. The Goron nodded his head slowly, turning back away from him to look at the doorway. "Where are we?"

"Goron Village," the Goron answered, his voice deep and masculine, filled with the melancholy his eyes portrayed. "It's doomed to be smothered in snow and ice forever. It will become a land where no living thing can survive. The storm coming from Snowhead has made it just as dangerous as the valley I found you in."

"Do you mean the temple?"

The Goron nodded. "It's over. Darmani, our Goron warrior, died trying to stop it. Now we're all waiting for the cold to take our lives." Link looked at the human rock sadly; he wore no clothes, his natural rock body typically enough warmth to protect him from the hostility of the mountain weather. He then thought about the curse that had befallen Woodfall: the swamp had been poisonous, the cause of this having been drawn to the monster in the temple.

"Did you...," Link stopped, swallowing before he continued, "... did you see some creature in a cloak, when you found me in the valley?" The Goron merely turned to him and raised an eyebrow at this. "I... A friend of mine was taken by it. After it had taken her, it knocked me out and left me to die."

"What did it look like?" the Goron asked.

"I don't know. It had the face of a ReDead, but I don't think that's what it was." The living rock did not seem to know how to take this, looking off again without saying anything. "How far away from here was I when you found me? I need to go after it."

"You'll die," the Goron said. "Even if you waited for morning to come. No one that goes out there expects to come back anymore."

"But... weren't you out there?" The Goron, upon hearing this question, did not respond. Instead, he began to stare off, a tear leaving his eye and rolling across his cheek.

"The gods had a different plan for me, it seems," the Goron said, not bothering to wipe the singular wet line off of his face.

Link wasn't sure if there was anything left to say, the Goron left to his own thoughts and keeping to himself. He decided to walk over to the bench, tightening his scabbard to rest on his back as well as his shield, the Goron finally turning to him. "You can have the rest of the potion I fed you," he said, pointing to a half empty bottle of some thick, red liquid on a table.

Link turned to it as he put his bag over his shoulder. "Are you sure?"

"I have plenty more. You'll need to finish it, especially if you plan on going back out there. Maybe the gods have a different plan for you, too." Link, after a moments thought, nodded his head, putting what was left of the health potion in his bag and turning to the door.

"Thank you," Link said. "I would have died if it wasn't for you."

"You saved me, too," the Goron said. Link wasn't sure he had anything left to say, the sadness in the Goron's eyes great. He decided it was best to go, lifting the heavy doorway and stepping out into the snow storm.

Once again in the outside world, the first thing he saw was a massive chasm. The snowy ground just in front of the shack's door only went a few feet before it dropped off. In the distance, a singular white column could be seen in the middle of abyss; it was in the shape of an inverted cone, the lower end narrowing until it disappeared from view, the bottom of the hole clouded from view. The lone, tall, icy structure, at its rounded top, had a cave opening, its insides darkened. A sign was near him on the edge of the cliff, though it could not be read from that distance due to the snow and ice glazed over it.

Link turned to examine the rest of his surroundings, backing up, but making sure not to step over the edge. The entire village seemed to be built into an opening in the side of the mountain, facing outward in the direction of the lone cave above the abyss. The sky was open to them, but he saw that the opposite end of the village was bordered by a sheer, mountain wall. The society itself was composed of several small shacks, one of which he'd exited, all surrounding two much larger buildings in the center. They each had great, cone shaped roofs, with large ramps circling their bodies, which were connected by a bridge. Link had exited the building closest to the edge, no way into or out of the village visible to him at the moment, aside from walking off of the cliff behind him.

He turned around once more to look at the distant column, wondering what could be in the small cave a giant's leap away. There was no wall behind it to suggest the possibility of a tunnel; only a small room would be capable existing. After a moment's longer of peering at it curiously, he noticed something else odd: the snow falling from the sky seemed to collect into random, large circles in midair. Most of the snow continued descending all the way down into the abyss, but a limited amount was stopped to be level with the cliff, as if there were invisible, disc-shaped surfaces levitating over the gap.

Link stood there for a moment, merely staring off into the dark, snow-filled sky. Night had come, and the mountain walls encasing half of the village did little to obstruct the continuous downpour. The cold was almost equivalent to that of the valley he'd collapsed in.

He waited, as if expecting a remark in comment of the odd cave, or the levitating discs of snow. However, none came. "I'll find you," Link whispered to himself. "I can't lose you, too."

He then turned away from the cliff, walking passed the small stone hut he'd rested in. Link drew the hood over his head when the snow continued to fall, his boots sinking into the depths of the white blanket. He circled a few more similar homes, a break in them appearing when he reached the mouth of a ramp circling one of the large buildings in the center. Link stood at its opening for a moment before deciding to ascend, the dark of night keeping visibility low.

He slipped once after a few of his first steps, realizing the ramp itself was icy underneath. Link treaded carefully, it's slope not too steep to make sliding down a major hazard. The right of the ramp was up against the large building, Link walking along it but seeing no visible doorway on the globular shape. There was, however, an occasional window high up on the roof, bright light glowing from behind the panes.

Link looked back down as the slope leveled out, now approaching a wooden bridge several feet over the ground, that connected to the ramp on the other building. Walking across it, he noticed a lone Goron standing on the far end of the upcoming ramp, right near where it curved round. He stood with his hands on his shoulders, shaking madly in the cold. Link raised an eyebrow at this, looking down to see the Goron was standing just over a closed doorway, which was at the base of the building on the snowy ground.

Link continued on towards the Goron, whose violent shivering did not cease as he turned to face the newcomer. Link's sympathy for the rock creature grew when they became within talking distance, noticing that his teeth were chattering, seeming almost slightly pale despite their usual brown skin tone.

"It's cold...," the Goron said quickly, not willing to exhale anymore than he had to.

"Why are you out here?" Link asked, himself not having lost his body heat yet.

"Being the gatekeeper in this cold is h-h-hard," he replied softly, Link's mind going to the door he knew was on the ground underneath them. "Do you want to enter the Goron Shrine?"

"Is that what this building is?" The Goron gave what Link could only interpret as a nod, though his shaking made it hard to tell. "I don't think anyone's going to come, and you'll freeze to death if you stay out here."

"You came," the Goron said. "And my shift's almost over. Do you want me to open the gate or not?"

"Yes," Link said. "If there are Gorons in there I can talk to."

"Then I'll open the door with a Goron pound. I'm going to close it right away so it doesn't get cold inside, so hurry up and get in. Are you ready?"

Link nodded. The Goron responded by taking his hands off of his shoulders and plopping down to sit in the snow. He then began huddling into a ball, bringing his arms and legs in as his softer, front side faced the cold ground, only leaving his hard, edged back showing. Link knew what was coming next, and took several steps back. The Goron was now rounded into ball, then hoisting his entire weight a couple of feet into the air, only to slam his harder backside into the ice. The resulting boom resonated, instantly causing the stone door below them to slide up and reveal a passageway.

Link, having turned toward the noise of the opening door, looked back at the Goron, who was standing back up, revealing a black crater where he'd slammed into the ground. Already, snow was beginning to cover up the scar in the earth. The Goron nodded for him to go on, putting his hands back on his shoulders and letting out a whimper as he began once more to shiver. Link nodded in return, peering over the edge of the ramp to see how far the drop to the ground was. It was manageable, Link grabbing onto the edge and throwing himself over, before letting go to only fall a few feet.

He landed just in front of the doorway, Link going inside as it closed behind him.

* * *

Before Link could take in anything about the shrine, an ear-grating, shrill noise instantly bombarded his ears. The high-pitched wail reverberated throughout all of the building, Link stepping into the shrine and lowering his hood, the inside of the building only slightly warmer than the outside. The first floor was mostly a large, empty plaza, with a ramp leading up to a second story and another leading to a basement level. A massive, stone cut out of a Goron's face was positioned against the wall of the far end of the plaza, above which a doorway on the second story was placed, and in front of which stood unlit torches. Several Gorons were there at random across the first floor, each either sitting or standing next to piles of belongings, most of their hands plugged in their ears to try and shut out the noise, in vain.

Link walked down into the large, open floor, hardly any of the Gorons giving him a second glance, despite his look of obvious confusion. The ear splitting noise, he thought, sounded almost like the crying of an infant, though one with a powerful and far reaching yelp, one he would attribute to that of a Goron baby.

"What's going on?" Link asked, approaching a group of three Gorons, who were surrounding a small pile of food that seemed hardly fit for one. The Goron turned to face him, however, made a face to show he hadn't been able to hear him. "What's going on?" Link said, raising his voice and realizing talking in a normal voice would do little in the midst of this wailing.

"We're at our wits' end...," the Goron said in a raised voice of his own, his face contorted in the pain the incessant crying caused. "The Elder went to Snowhead and doesn't seem to be coming back. Now his son is so lonely that he won't stop crying. It keeps getting colder outside, and inside we're so cold we could freeze."

"Why's everyone crowded in here like this?" Link inquired, realizing the piles of possessions were only items necessary for survival.

"We'd all already be dead if we stayed out there!" the Goron answered. "Our huts don't shut out the cold as much as the shrine does."

"But there's still someone out there," Link said, the crying beginning to arouse a headache of his own.

"I know, the gatekeeper; we take turns keeping watch."

"No, not him," Link said, wincing when the screaming fluctuated to in an even higher frequency for a brief moment. "In a hut, out near the edge by the cliff."

"Near Lone Peak Shrine?"

This instantly brought to mind the the cave into the distance, in front of which had been the levitating discs of snow. "Yes," Link answered. "He found me freezing to death in a valley near here, and brought me to his hut."

"Gorbus?" the Goron said, his eyes becoming downcast. "He gave up trying to survive, after that masked demon killed his son not that long ago. He went into the valley to die. We didn't think he was coming back."

Link was left speechless, silence prevented by the crying coming from the second story.

"You look like you're doing fine despite all this noise," another Goron said, coming up to stand beside the first one, obviously not having heard what they were talking about. "I can feel it in my gut. It's echoing in my empty stomach!"

The Goron who had been talking to Link then turned away from him, back towards his friend, shaking his head in agreement as he slammed his hands back over his ears. "I wish someone would do something... Urrrgh... I can feel it pounding in the back of my head."

Link looked back to the source of the crying, deciding to find it as he turned back to the ramp, which went around and up, until he was eventually on the head of the enormous stone carving of the Goron. At the top, a decorative carpet lead backward into a separate room, it ending at a small, half-pipe like ramp leading off of the head of the Goron statue. Link went to follow the carpet, down into the room the crying was coming from, passing one Goron on his way in. The doorway was topped by what appeared to be a crown like fixture, Link deciding this was where the elder must usually be.

Inside, was a much more decorative room, the carpet ending at a large, ornate chair. On the left sat what looked like a collection of toys and colorful gems, Link reasoning they belonged to what sat in the chair. In it, was a very small Goron, obviously only an infant. It wore what could be made out to be a crude diaper, its hair growing out of the top of its in an unusually long, single curl, versus the average small crop. It's mouth was wide open, being the source of the terrible disturbance echoing throughout the shrine, its eyes squeezed shut with tears welling out of them. Two Gorons stood at either side, both plagued with just as much irritation and pain.

"Waaah...Henh, uwaaaaah...!" One of the Gorons stepped forward from beside the chair as Link entered the room, confronting him before he had to get too close to the baby.

"This is the room of the Goron Tribe's Elder. Do you have some kind of business with the Elder?" Link wasn't sure how to respond, but was spared having to when he continued. "Unfortunately, he's out. Since the Elder is gone, his son won't stop crying. I wish someone would do something..."

"Daaaaaddy, daaaddy...!" the Goron baby cried, resorting to a whimper for the moment, as if having heard the other Goron speak. "H-hunh... I'm cooold, Daaaddy!" It then went back to its torturous screaming, their momentary sigh of relief brief.

"I actually came here to help," Link said, having to raise his voice even louder than before. "But I need to find my friend first. Something with the face of a ReDead kidnapped her; it was wearing a cloak and somehow managed to control us, just by looking at us."

The Goron looked at Link with blatant disbelief, having brought his hands just far enough from his ears to hear what Link was saying. "ReDeads? I thought those were only legends?"

"It wasn't a ReDead," Link said. "I don't... know what it was." The Goron's expression did not change, making it apparent that no one here had any knowledge of the creature Link had encountered. He, however, had a different hunch he decided to follow. "... Do you know where I can find the masked imp?"

The Goron's expression instantly darkened at this. "What business could you have with a demon like him?"

"I'm trying to stop him," Link explained. "I think that thing with the ReDead face has something to do with him."

"We don't know his whereabouts," the Goron said bluntly. "He's caused our tribe a great tragedy. Some believe he's responsible for the never ending winter."

"I know. But I need to find him," Link said, sighing when he realized this conversation wasn't getting him anywhere. "Which way would I go if I was heading north? Towards the edge of Termina?"

The Goron's face grew even grimmer at this, taking his hands down from his ears completely, seeming to have almost completely forgotten the crying. "Do you have a death wish? The Skull Kid? The edge of Termina? Do you realize what dark magic you'd be dealing with?"

"Yes," Link said, beginning to grow slightly irritated. "Just tell me which way to go. I don't have any time left to waste."

The Goron paused, continuing to look at him darkly before finally deciding to speak. "There's a passageway behind the Goron Shrine, on the opposite side of where the doorway is. That's the direction the demon heads."

Link nodded. "Thank you." He turned to leave the room, the Goron looking after him as he did.

* * *

Link, once again passing the odd column of ice in the middle of the chasm, stopped in front of the hut he'd first awoken in. He took a deep breath and threw back the hide, stepping inside. "Gorbus?" The Goron, who was sitting in the exact position Link had left him, given that only several minutes had passed, turned to him as he entered. "I know about your son."

Gorbus's eyes widened at this, looking down, already on the verge of tears.

"But you don't have to die too," Link said, the Goron not willing to make eye contact. "You saved my life, and now I'm going to save yours. Give me two days, and if I haven't stopped the demon that's cursed Snowhead and killed your son, then no one will stop you from going back into the valley. I'm not leaving until I've brought spring back to Snowhead, and I want you to be here to see it. There's still hope."

Gorbus didn't say anything, his eyes having found a corner and remaining there. Link, after a moment of waiting for a response, left the hut without another word. He was once again out in the cold, snowy night, the only sound being that of the whistling wind. Link approached the edge of the cliff, upon seeing what the Gorons had deemed Lone Peak Shrine again.

Morning was still far away, but he could still see the flat circles of snow floating in midair, each within jumping distance of one another, making their way to the cave far off. Link was about to turn away, when he noticed something else falling from the sky: a feather. He looked up to see a great, brown owl flying over head, each grand flap of its wings graceful as it passed above him. Link looked down to the feather to watch it lightly tossed back and forth in the wind. It eventually came to land on the collection of snow, as if some invisible platform was there, then being blown off, and disappearing down into the chasm. Link turned back to the owl, who was already flying off into the distance.

"I must be crazy," Link said to himself, once he took a step back from the edge, eying the layer of levitating ice and snow intently. Then he ran, kicking off of the edge of the cliff and jumping, his hood blown off of his head. Link came down just on top of a small disc of snow, landing on his stomach, his entire body just large enough to fit on it. Looking down, he was only able to see the ice he'd landed on, peering over the edge to see that it now appeared he himself was floating high in the air.

Link breathed in deeply before beginning to try and get to his feet, slipping almost immediately and being forced to come back down. His second attempt was more successful, now shakily standing on nothing. Link eventually summoned enough courage to take a step back and make a second leap to the next platform.

Throughout the entire journey, the only noise was the wind. Snow never wained, constantly beating down on him, the cold wing stinging his face. He always landed on his stomach, realizing that there wasn't enough traction for landing on his feet to result in a positive experience. Every time he landed, hugging the ice he'd landed on, it grew colder, sometimes landing in a direction to see the Goron Village he'd come from. He realized no one knew he was out here, and that if he slipped, he would die unnoticed and forgotten.

It was on the fifth platform that the wind blew his hat away, it sliding off of his head and drifting into the Lone Cave Shrine. With nothing protecting his head, the cold stung even more bitterly than before, Link trying to pull his hood up, but it being blown off each time, the wind stronger over the chasm while he was lying down. He then quickly got back to his feet, leaping onto the last platform, before standing up for the final time and leaping to the mouth of the cave.

Link's hands grabbed onto the snowy ledge, pulling himself up and into the ice columns shelter, the absence of wind welcome. Inside, it was a large, mostly empty stone cave. Three massive boulders were present, as well as scattered crabgrass, which was yellowed and dead. In the very center was a large treasure chest, outlined in gold; no one else was there.

Link bent down and picked up his hat, which had been just at the mouth of the entrance, pulling it over his head as he made his way to the chest. It was almost equal to his height, Link wondering if the item inside matched it in size, as he unfastened the latch and flung the lid open. However, the chest's height still prevented him from seeing what was inside of it, Link shaking his head as he threw his body over the chest's lip.

Link sighed when all he found was what appeared to be a purple magnifying glass, it small and shoved to one corner of the box, which was otherwise empty. He picked it up by the handle, nonetheless, sliding off of the chest and turning the new found object over in his hand. The lens seemed to have a large purple eye in the center, three decorative red triangles sticking out of the upper rim of its circle, a single golden ring near the bottom of the handle.

Suddenly, Link's mind flashed to some deep, dark dungeon at the bottom of a well... the one in Kakariko Village. He was in an enclosed room of soft dirt, a long, fleshy white hand stained with blood grabbing his face, it sticking far out of the ground along with five others like some long, wet noodle. Its long red nails dug into his face, holding him still, his eyes hardly able to make out the mass of bloody flesh inching its way toward him like some gray slug. Its eyes were dark pits, licking its lips as it bared its plentiful sharp teeth.

Link stumbled backwards, his hand going to his forehead as his mind flashed back to the present. He, after coming to his senses, peered back down at what he held in his hand, realizing it was no magnifying glass. "The Lens of Truth," Link said to himself, remembering now his journey at the bottom of the well in Hyrule. The horrors of the monsters down there were now vivid in his memory, but he had managed to defeat them all and come back out alive... with this in his possession. Somehow, it had also found its way to Termina. Link hadn't been aware of the possibility that there was more than one, wondering what had become of the supplies that had fallen off of Epona during his original pursuit of the Skull Kid in the forest.

An idea then presented itself to Link. With the lens in his hand, Link walked to the entrance of the Lone Peak Shrine, standing at its ledge and once again attacked by the bitter wind. He looked at the levitating discs of snow before putting the Lens of Truth over his right eye, closing his left. It was exactly as he had expected: looking through the lens, it was revealed that there were, in fact, six invisible platforms of solid ice floating over the deep chasm. The snow collecting on their surfaces had given it away, though he knew the instrument in his hands revealed all that was in vainly hidden by sorcery.

Looking at the platforms, the lens seemed to reveal something else standing on the cliff's edge, at the far side where the Goron Village was. It was some large, gray shape standing just in front of Gorbus's hut, faint and seeming to hardly exist. Link furrowed his brow in confusion, dropping the Lens of Truth into his bag and beginning the journey back to the other side.

Eventually, he was once again in the safety of the village, pulling out the lens to see more clearly what was there. However, it was gone. Link looked back and forth, but the lens revealed nothing, but what was already visible to his naked eye. He disappointedly lowered the instrument, returning it to his bag and deciding it would come in handy later.

Link then turned to go in the direction he'd originally intended, his small sidetrack now over, lifting the hood over his head, and walking to the other side. It was there that he saw a break in the mountain walls, it bordered on each side to form a snake-like mountain path going upward, Link instantly recalling the trail he'd followed with Tatl, much further south.

"I'm coming, Tatl," Link said to himself, taking the bottle of red potion out of his bag and drinking some of what was left over. A momentary burst of warmth returned to his body, Link hoping there was enough left to sustain his journey in being reunited with his lost friend.

Soon, the huts of the Gorons were blocked by mountain walls, and all that remained was the path leading in some uncertain direction ahead of him.

* * *

It was a wasteland. The snow was deep, and it pelted down on the lifeless land mercilessly, as if unaware that it had already killed everything. The nighttime sky was hidden behind thick, dark clouds, the frigid cold very real, the wind carrying nothing but death. The open landscape, mountain walls far into the distance in any given direction, was blank and featureless. Only one person now dared to try and venture across, and his thick coat, hood, and pants did little to protect him from the cold.

Link found himself in a similar condition to the valley he'd collapsed in, except there was no Goron Village ahead to offer solace. He knew that the only thing ahead was the cave that Tatl had found, the one that the Skull Kid continuously returned to, the one that lead to the other side of Termina.

His mind went back to Zelda, Anju, Navi, and Tatl with each step. He remembered his fairy dying on his Deku scrub chest, as the town walls had rained down on them, the moon having destroyed the clock tower. He'd played the Song of Time seconds too late. He recalled Navi, keeping some truth from him after he'd returned the Master Sword to its pedestal, leaving him forever. Anju flying into the air vividly replayed itself in his head; the explosion at her feet had left her a bloody rag doll, limply coming back to the ground with only minutes of life left.

And then there was the ReDead face. It had brought him to his knees, and forced his only remaining friend to captivate herself, only to be taken away, Link left to die. Those deep, black pits resonated in his memory, though the eyes hidden behind them seemed to hold some truth that was critical to everything happening...

Link stumbled weakly onto his knees in the snow, getting back to his feet quickly and summoning all of the energy he had left, pressing onward. The intensity of his darkest memories grew with each step, and he knew that the wicked illusions that plagued the borders of Termina would soon be toying with his mind.

It was then, however, that the snowy landscape just stopped. Link stood still just in time, looking to see that the ground he'd been following ended at yet another cliff. He peered down to see a sheer, unforgiving drop, it far and ending in jagged rocks. Link began following the edge of the cliff, hoping to find a way across at some point or another, realizing that the combination of the night and blizzard made it hard to see far into the distance. Going right, he found nothing; the cliff ended at a mountain wall, hosting a small cave, but the way forward was just as impassable. To the left, Link found what he was looking for, though not in the optimal conditions he'd hoped for.

What he found was a narrow, icy ledge. The mountain wall on that side gave way to pure ice, which Link would have to sidle against directly over the massive drop. The ledge went on far into the distance, himself unable to see if it made it to other side, which was also just as invisible. Link sighed, coming to the conclusion that it would be foolhardy to attempt to cross in the dark, with such extreme weather conditions. It panged him to consider wasting anymore time, knowing that every minute could make the difference in saving Tatl.

Link resigned to go to the other side, entering the small cave and going as far back into it as he could. It wasn't nearly as large as the one he'd found with Tatl, and there was no fire waiting to be lit. It, however, was narrower and longer, providing better shelter from the cold. In its farthest depths, Link found what he at first took to be the corpse of a tektite; stopping when he at first saw it, he realized it was still alive, pale beyond belief, shaking madly and on its back. It seemed on the verge of death, the cold not providing it a quick and painless end.

It whimpered as soon as it saw him, but it did nothing to try and run, due to the fact that it had no strength left. Link pitied the creature, his eyes sadly wondering how long it had been forced to suffer here in the cold, unimaginable agony eating away at its life, but never taking it. Link, after a moments debate, drew his newly acquired Razor Sword, its blade sharper, neater, and much more refined than his older.

The tektite seemed hardly to care, its red eye almost willing for him to do it. His new sword's first kill was then made, it done swiftly and efficiently. The creature did not even react to the blade, it simply ceasing to live, without any sign of resistance. Link pushed the body out of the darkest depths of the cave, which he reserved for himself, pulling up his hood further and curling into a ball.

His eyes went back to its body over and over again, Link wondering if it really had been put out of its misery. So much death surrounded him, as of late, and he couldn't help but wonder where it now was. Was there peace in death? He didn't know, but he was certain the agony of the cold was no longer its own to bear.

Link rested his head on the cave wall, sipping more of the red potion and eating cold bread, before his exhausted state began to over power him. As his eyes became heavier, he wished his second adventure had taken him somewhere less hostile, preferring the aggressive wildlife of the swamp rather than the harsh realities of the mountains. He wished Tatl was there with him, resting on his shoulder, the two of them falling into sleep together.

* * *

Epona stopped as soon as she'd crossed the drawbridge, Link sliding off of her saddle and grabbing onto her reigns, staring into the fields of Hyrule.

"You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you?"

Link turned around, not having actually heard anything, but hoping, nonetheless, that he could have that conversation again. She wasn't there, though; no one was. The drawbridge was empty, and he and Epona were the only two anywhere in sight, on the gray, gloomy day.

"I'm... sorry," Link stammered, his eyes filling with tears as he said it. "I wish I could tell you that I don't want to leave... I wish I could just run into your arms, instead of turning away and leaving you. I wish, that I could go back to that day, and _never_ leave you. Maybe things would have turned out differently."

Link took in a deep, shuddering breath, but none of those wishes came true. He remained there only with his horse, standing by himself and staring into the spot where Zelda had been the first time he'd left. It wasn't until Epona neighed that she was able to get Link's attention.

Link, looking at her for the first time in a while, shook his head and threw himself back over his horse. "Come on, Epona. There's nothing left for us there." Turning to walk away from the castle for good, deciding he would find a new home elsewhere, he thought he saw someone out of the corner of his eyes: a tall, cloaked figure, keeping its head down so as to hide its face.

However, when Link turned his head, no one was there. He looked at the spot for a moment longer, before heading off toward Death Mountain once again.

* * *

Link's eyes opened when the sun shone into them brilliantly, a beam happening to shine directly in between the twists and curves of the cave, as well as the corpse of the tektite. He scooted up and looked sleepily back and forth, remembering where he was and realizing he'd slept in to the next day. Already, over twenty-four hours of this cycle had passed.

Link, not wanting to waste anymore time, jumped to his feet and stretched, the cold much less intense than it had been in the previous night. He, going through the cave and stepping over the tektite, was once again in the open air. The sky was still cloudy and snow still fell, but the former left a hole open for the young sun in the west to peak through, while the latter had been reduced to only a light falling. It was still frigid, but the dying down of the wind was welcome, Link keeping the hood over his head, as he walked along the edge of the cliff to the ledge he'd found on the opposite end. All the while, he looked to see the other side of the chasm was barely visible; the ledge he would soon be inching his way along seemed to curve inconveniently out of the way, rather than directly heading to where he needed to.

Link, when he finally reached the small icy chunk of land sticking out of the wall, realized it would take quite a while before he was once again on solid land. He lowered his hood, closing his eyes and making sure he was fully alert, before pushing his back up against the icy wall, and beginning to steadily inch his way along the ledge. There was hardly enough room for the entirety of his boots, and he recalled doing this in the Woodfall Temple. Falling then had lead him to Odolwa; this time, however, falling would only bring him death.

He took his time, knowing that the slightest misstep would be deadly. The ledge took him far out over the chasm, it approaching a corner, behind which he reasoned the icy wall curved inward, before finally going back out to reach the other side he was aiming for. Having finally reached the turning point, he understood this would perhaps be the most dangerous part of the sidling. It came together into a fine point, looking difficult to go around with only the small ledge for support.

This difficult task was accomplished over the course of several minutes, each time tentatively putting out one foot before bringing it back. Eventually, he made it around, proving his earlier speculation on its geography correct. Link refused to allow his mind to wonder, retaining a single-minded determination to complete his task without slipping.

It paid off. It was almost half an hour, over the course of which the sun once again went behind the clouds and the wind began to pick up slightly, that Link's feet finally found solid ground, stumbling off of the wall and onto it thankfully, it just as snow covered as the other side. Link sighed with relief, straightening his back and stretching before reapplying his hood, looking to see where the land would take him next.

It went on in the same direction: north. The ground sloped up several feet before stopping abruptly, Link reasoning that he was on the verge of approaching a large hill. Link began his walk to its peak, having to bend down and trudge hard as the slope increased, his boots plunging deep into the snow that had collected, its surface reflecting the little light of the cloudy day brightly.

When he reached the top, Link's eyes widened. The other side of the hill, naturally, sloped downward. It did so into a valley, which appeared to be only a mile away, though the valley itself was very wide, the other side bordered by a high mountain peak, blocking from view what was on the other side. This northern border seemed to stretch all the way around and encompass the e tire valley, which was as deep as it was massive.

Link's stomach churned when he thought he realized where he was. The peak, far into the distance, did not appear to have any other peaks behind it. This was it; a gut feeling told Link that he was at the very edge of this land.

"I'm almost there," Link said to himself, for some reason certain he was about to find his lost fairy. He began to descend into the valley, slipping several times and almost rolling down into it, which surely would have left him mortally wounded. He managed to catch himself, however, realizing that going straight down into it would not be preferable. Link, therefore, began to tackle the slope indirectly, going off to the left and following what would be a much safer journey downward.

Following this path, small mountain walls began to border it and block the peak and valley from view, but he knew from his first look that it would eventually all lead to the same place. Going downward, something came into his view around the next upcoming corner: some sort of lump lying up against the rock wall and covered in snow.

Link stopped his brisk pace and began to approach it carefully, eventually just in front of it. It was the size of a human being, but when he turned it over on its back and the snow fell off, he realized it was a person he knew. It was Zelda. Her eyes were open, frozen and looking directly at him, her body pale and devoid of life, appearing to have died in the snow ages ago, her mouth slightly agape and in an eternal scream, the last signs of the agony she'd endured present.

Link gasped, letting go of the corpse and allowing it to roll down into the snow, shaking as he backed into the wall on the opposite end of the pathway. His eyes could not tear away from it, trembling as his lips quivered, his mind blank. It took him a moment to regain his senses, shakily reaching into his bag and pulling out the Lens of Truth. As soon as he looked into the purple eye on the surface of the glass, her corpse was gone.

Link tried to calm himself, still shaking as he turned away from it and lowered the lens, keeping it in his hand and refusing to turn around again. He walked forward unsteadily and awkwardly, still completely stunned and shaken by what he'd seen. It had been so _real_. His hand had actually touched her shoulder, when he'd turned it over. The person he would always been in love with, was there under his hands, dead; he knew now that the illusions were capable of playing tricks not only on his eyes.

"Link..." He shook his head, increasing his pace as he went down the slope, going further away from the corpse, even though he'd seen movement in the corner of his eyes, exactly where he'd left it. "I'm not dead yet..."

"No," Link murmured to himself, her voice fading behind him as he went further downward. "You're not real. You're just a trick."

"I think that's because... deep down inside... we all know." Zelda's voice repeated the words Tatl had, that last time they'd been together in the cave, when Tatl had been crying, in horror of the words the cave had spoken to her.

"Stop," Link said. Her voice had become loud in his ears once more, even he'd left her behind him.

"But, Link, you promised you would come back..."

"You're not Zelda." It was hard for him to say, however, because her voice was exactly as he'd remembered it. And he'd been longing to hear it again for so long now.

"Why are you leaving me, Link?"

Maybe he could go back. Maybe... he wouldn't know the difference. Maybe he could be together with Zelda again, except this time here in Snowhead, forever.

"Come back."

"You're just a trick."

"Link, don't go..."

"You're not Zelda!"

"Who's there?"

"Just stop talking!"

"Who're you-?"

Something slammed into Link's face, while he was walking and looking downward, causing his hood to fall down. Link stumbled backward, squinting his eyes and rubbing his face, whatever it had been soft and bright. He looked up to see a ball of purple light stumbling backward, as he was doing, except levitating in midair, with wings making this possible.

"Tael?" He had, in fact, ran into the purple fairy, having been too preoccupied with evading the reanimated corpse behind him to have seen Tatl's brother coming.

The fairy looked down at him in confusion, an eyebrow raised worriedly. Link saw Tael turn to look behind himself, Link following his gaze to see that Zelda was no longer there. "Who were you talking to?" Tael asked, his eyes nervously going back to Link.

"I...," Link stammered, Tael's voice nothing at all like Tatl's, "... wasn't talking to anyone."

"But...," the fairy started, "... I just heard you screaming."

"... It was nothing," reassured Link. "It was probably just a trick. Don't people usually see things, all the way out here?"

Tael looked away uncertainly at this, before looking back to the wide-eyed human in the pointy-green hat and brown winter clothing in front of him. "What are you doing up here anyways? Where's my sister?"

"I don't know," Link said. "I... actually came up here to look for her. Someone kidnapped her, and I think it might have come from the cave the Skull Kid always goes to, down in the valley."

Tael's eyes, for a brief moment, relayed the fear that the mention of the cave brought, but he quickly brushed it aside. "She's not in there."

"... You've already been through it?"

"Well, no," Tael said grumpily. "I went a little into it, but I just know she's not in there."

"How?"

"I... don't know!" Tael exclaimed, flying passed Link, making as if he was about to go up the slope, away from the cave and back toward Goron Village.

"Well, I'm going to make sure," Link said.

"Then you're not ever coming back out of there," Tael replied smugly. "_I'm_ definitely not going in there again."

"Where are you going to go, then?" Link asked, this question causing Tael to stop. "You must have gotten here long before now. You've obviously been hanging around for quite a while, expecting something to happen." He waited for a response, but the fairy still gave none. "The Skull Kid wasn't the same when you found him, was he?"

Tael turned around slowly at this, looking at Link uncertainly. Link was reminded strongly of all of the convincing he'd done to get Tatl to follow him places, and how, despite her initial stubborn resistance, she'd always followed him.

Tael sighed. "Okay, you're right, maybe I don't have anywhere else to go, but... if we do find my sister, don't think I'm sticking around to help you do anything else."

"Of course not," Link said, turning back to continue walking down the slope, with the fairy hesitantly following behind him.

Their walk initially began in an awkward silence, Link staring determinedly ahead, his eyes constantly looking for another sign of an illusion or trick. Tael, meanwhile, tried his best to avert looking at him at all, pretending to instead find something interesting on the rock walls to look at.

"So...," Tael began awkwardly, "are you and my sister 'buddy-buddy' now, or something? What exactly have the two of you been up to?"

Link opened his mouth to answer that question, but then wasn't sure whether to start with the time travel, the four giants, or the Skull Kid's descent into murderous lunacy.

* * *

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E (Chapter 1): Thanks!


	28. The Cave

_Chapter 28: The Cave_

"So, you're telling me that we've had this conversation before?"

Tael floated beside Link as the two of them snaked down the mountain passageway, it getting steeper as they progressed. The sun was still young, and hidden behind the overcast. Only sparse white flakes danced lightly to the ground, blue patches of sky visible. Nonetheless, Link's boots sunk deep into the snow collected from the previous day, not trusting the perpetual blizzard to remain abated for long.

"No," Link said, shaking his head. "This is the first time I've been to Snowhead."

"But you said you've been reliving the same three days over and over again?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to do the same thing every time!" the boy exclaimed, his attempts at explaining he and Tatl's adventure incapable of making sense to her brother. "You- you've been doing the same thing every day. I bet the Skull Kid wasn't where you expected him to be- was he?"

The purple fairy didn't have a response to this, realizing Link was right. He'd flown to the top of the clock tower expecting to find the masked imp there, but he hadn't been, prompting his search in the mountains.

"Everyone else is stuck doing the same things, even though me, Tatl, and the Skull Kid can do things differently," Link explained. "We're only conscious that everything is repeating because my ocarina sends us all back in time, and no one else."

"I don't understand how that works though," Tael said. "It's just an ocarina, and besides, the Skull Kid never actually knew how to play it. How come he goes back in time, and not me?"

"I already told you," Link replied. "Twice."

"I know, but it's really hard to swallow. He... shot it with lightning, and for some reason, that binds him to the magic of the ocarina?"

"Yes," Link said. "That's exactly what I said."

"So does that mean he can start over the cycle whenever he wants to, too?"

Link stammered uncertainly at first, realizing he'd never actually thought about this question. "I don't know. I wouldn't think he'd want to, even if he could, but... I don't think he can."

"And he's trying to kill you, because he knows you're saving the giants?"

"Yes," Link answered. "We guessed he knew what we were up to as soon as he saw the curse in Woodfall was broken. He was there when we were making our way back."

"Why is it that you think the giants can stop him?" the fairy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because...," Link stopped short, however, when he realized what the answer was. "Because you told us."

"I told you?" Tael inquired. "How would I know anything about that?"

"I'm not sure. It was on the final night, when the moon was about to fall. We were on the top of the clock tower, and you told us to find the 'four who were there'. One in each cardinal direction."

"That's odd," Tael said. "I've heard the story before, about the guardian giants, but I never actually thought much about it. The Skull Kid does always talk about some old friends, a lot, and how they left him. Maybe that's what he meant."

"Old friends?" Link asked. "He was friends with them?"

"I don't know, which is weird, because I'm not sure how it is I knew more in the other cycle."

"The Skull Kid probably told you at some point in the original three day cycle," Link theorized. "Before we changed things."

"I still don't get how time travel is even possible," Tael said, sighing. "How do I know you're not just making all of this up?"

"... I guess you don't," Link answered simply. "But I can promise you Tatl will tell you the same exact thing when we find her."

"What happened to her, anyways?" Tael asked. The image of the creature in the black robe was still vivid to Link, it resurfacing as soon as it was mentioned. "You said she was kidnapped?"

"She was," he answered, recalling the grip that had seized his entire body, and forced him down to his knees, only to watch Tatl forced to fly her way into the bottle in silence.

"Who was it? Why did they want her?"

"I don't know," Link responded grimly. "But I'm getting her back."

"You didn't see him? Or it... or her?"

"No. It had the face of a ReDead and was wearing a hood, and somehow was able to take control of me and Tatl."

"What do you mean?"

"I couldn't move my arms or legs; it forced me to stay still, and forced Tatl to fly into a jar. Then it left me to die in the snow."

Tael wasn't sure how to comment, taking a moment to understand exactly what he'd just said. "And you're going after it?"

"I'm not going to let it take her like that," Link snapped immediately, turning to the fairy but continuing his pace. "What if it kills her? Even if it wasn't going to, she'll die when the moon falls and destroys Termina. I have to find her before these next two days are up."

"... But if it can control you like that, what are you going to do? You can't fight it."

"I'll find a way." He thought about how its eyes, or lack thereof, had seemed to have some sort of foreboding quality about them, and reasoned that they were what gave it this ability.

"But what if you don't?"

"Then I die trying to save her," Link answered instantly. Tael had no reply, looking up instead to see the pathway they were following beginning to open into a large field of snow. The tundra stretched on for a while, a towering mountain peak in the distance, being the one Link had seen from the top of the hill they'd just descended in a roundabout manner. The purple fairy stopped to behold it for a moment, nervously, looking down to see that Link hadn't bothered to, already crossing the plain towards it.

Tael uncertainly followed, the snowfall becoming heavy again. Their trek was taken in silence, and with each step, the dark gray curtain thickened, the peak in the distance slowly disappearing from view. Soon it was completely obstructed, and Tael recalled flying through the area in a similar condition a day earlier, searching for the Skull Kid.

The wind's whistling increased as visibility plummeted, the fairy keeping his head down in the beginning blizzard, as did the boy. He began to wonder whether there was always a snow storm this close to the cave, and kept flying onward in the direction he knew the mountain wall would eventually appear.

Link, meanwhile, felt a chill run through him, his mind going back to Zelda, dead on the side of the passageway. His hand had touched her cold shoulder, and those had been her eyes he'd stared into, devoid of life. He remembered finding her corpse lying in the bed of Hyrule Castle, recalling how peaceful she'd looked, resting there, in comparison to how he'd just found her. She'd been right there in front of him, but somehow, no longer there at all. He looked back and forth in the blizzard expecting to see her there again, watching him in the snow. That never happened, however, and he always remained on track by turning to the purple orb standing out amongst the bleak landscape, who seemed to know where he was going.

"Are you sure you want to do this?!" Tael screamed over the wind, eyes squinted as it stung his face. Link didn't answer, trudging onward in determination. The fairy hesitantly continued leading the way, his mind racing as he flew; the uneasiness that came from being so close to the northern border had returned.

Link, as he pulled his coat tightly around him, realized he'd yet to see any wildlife, aside from the dying tektite, this far north. He could only theorize as to what this meant, and wondered how much of it could be contributed to the Skull Kid's curse, and how much to the odd occurrences that took place near the borders of Termina. It was then that he wondered if there was even a difference between the two.

As this thought shot across his mind, the distant mountain wall finally came into view from behind the heavy precipitation. It appeared forebodingly, as if in response to his musings, the fairy craning his head back and recognizing it instantly. It was only feet away, and they took several more steps forward before stopping, the rock cliff stretching out of their field of vision up, left, and right, the intensity of the storm still present.

There it was: the edge of Termina, within his reach. Link almost considering asking Tael to scale the mountain wall and see what was on the other side, but then thought better of it, realizing the fairy would probably not agree, or else, find himself incapable of performing the task. He thought it probable that the Skull Kid didn't not want there to be any way around other than the way straight through he'd provided.

Link, at first expecting Tael to lead him along the wall in the next direction, decided against waiting any longer, intuitively walking right rather than wasting anymore time. "Hey!" Tael exclaimed, having hoped to have had more control over the situation, flying a bit forward, but not completely following. He didn't have anything further to add, however, sighing before remaining just behind Link.

_Don't you hope to see her again some day?_

Link saw her corpse in the bed, and then it being rolled over in the snow. He shook his head, blinking heavily to shake the images away.

_It's beautiful! A magnificent field of flowers, as far as the eye can see; so beautiful, so filled with hope and wonder. It's one of the things I live for, sights like that, the main reason I travel as much as I do. So gorgeous..._

He recalled talking with the man eating beans, Tatl by his side, just after they'd been running through the Woods of Mystery, purple and orange fire swirling around them, Zelda's voice ringing in his ears.

_The mask didn't just bend to their will; it influenced them, and corrupted them, and got them to follow its will. The tribe, behind secret walls, did terrible things under the influence of the mask, killing and torturing, slowly expanding its territories, no one on the outside understanding what was happening on the in._

Koume's words, as Link and Tatl had returned to the swamp, away from the southern border, were suddenly clear to him.

He remembered looking down at himself from above, through the eyes of the imp, his own eyes glowing purple as he went to strike and kill the Skull Kid.

_What? Is it not a simple task? Why, to someone like you, it should by no means be a difficult task._

He saw Anju's limp body rise high into the air. He saw Tatl dying on his chest. He fell to his knees, staring into the dark pits of the ReDead face as Tatl silently flew into her bottle. He batted Tatl out of the way of the lightning strike, it hitting his ocarina and then himself directly in the chest, lifting him off of his feet and going backwards through the air.

_Darkness, is the only reality. I, Majora, am the embodiment of that darkness. The light you cling so desperately to is always fading fast. All have darkness in their hearts, even without a black mark to remind them._

Link shook his head again, squeezing his eyes shut in pain as he trudged through the snow. The voices and images spun through his head as he progressed along the rock wall, the snow bombarding him relentlessly, Tael nervously flying by his side.

_But none can hide in bliss forever_.

Then, everything suddenly stopped. The voices vanished, and Link halted abruptly, turning to see an opening in the rock wall just beside him. It was the entrance to a cave, it appearing perfectly circular. He stared at it for a moment, it disappearing into darkness quite quickly, the opening small and not revealing much. The wind whistled behind them as the fairy and boy looked inside, their eyes wide.

Link tentatively took a step towards the cave, Tael fluttering uneasily beside him. They remained there for a moment longer, simply staring into its depths. Link's hand went to the handle of his Razor Sword, slowly sliding it out of his sheath as he stepped into the darkness, realizing a tektite already freezing to death would not be his new blade's only fight.

The first thing he found on the cave floor were the remnants of a fire, the scorched wood now cold and black. The fire pit seemed to have been placed exactly where the snow reached no further, a thin white line stopping just in front of it, with only a few flecks dotting the area across. Link looked up from it to the tunnel burrowing downward, which went on for a bit before twisting around a corner.

Fear of the unknown, of what could be hidden deep within the mountain, became suddenly very real. Looking down the passageway, all that could be seen was black, everything as dark as it was still. Stepping any further inside felt like it would be an intrusion, breaking the state of slumber of whatever lay deep within. In that moment, he was hesitant to continue further, pausing and almost considering whether or not he should turn back.

Link quickly resolved to do otherwise, however, gripping his sword even tighter as his feet carried him further inward, bending down first to pick up one of the heavier, thicker, and more intact sticks from the fire. "_Hey_." He turned his head, finding Tael several steps behind him. "_If Tatl's down there, I don't think we can save her._" Link didn't respond, his blue eyes only looking halfway at the purple fairy, the light of the outside narrow on his face. "_If the Skull Kid really has changed... I think it's because of whatever's down there_."

"If I die," Link began, his voice only slightly louder than Tael's hushed whisper. "then I wouldn't have to live without them anymore. The only reason I'm still alive is so I can save Termina, and her. If I can't do either of those things...," he turned back to the cave, before looking back at Tael, "... then there's no point."

"_There could be another way_," Tael reasoned. "_You don't even know if she's down there_."

"Then don't come with me," Link said, turning away. Tael only watched as Link recommenced his journey across the uneven floor, balancing himself on the cave walls as he approached the corner. The fairy did not follow; Link soon disappeared, engulfed by the darkness.

Tael waited a moment longer, staring at the last spot he'd been able to see him. Then he slowly backed out of the cave, turning around and looking in both directions; it was the same either way. The heavy snow storm blanketed everything, except the mountain peak standing tall at his back, behind which he knew lay lands outside of Termina's borders.

* * *

Link paced himself steadily, glad now that he'd brought the stick with him. Typically, in dark situations, he had Tatl to light the way; now that Tael had decided against following him, Link sheathed his sword and pulled out one of the remaining matches from within his bag. It took a few tries, but soon the piece of wood was ablaze, the fire illuminating the dark rock of the passageway. The light from the outside world had faded long ago, but his eyes had adjusted. Now, however, absolute darkness was beginning to set in, his journey perhaps twenty minutes in.

The cold winter air had been left behind at the cave's opening, but a new kind of cold was beginning to set in, one that seemed foreboding, and somehow more disheartening and chilling. His eyes scanned each progression of the cave carefully, the area still narrow, many twists and turns present. The general theme seemed to be a downward slope, Link wondering what sort of geographical feature would be waiting for him on the other side; though his primary concern was fear for what he would encounter before he got there. He was surprised he'd made it through without coming across any malevolent force or creature thus far, but didn't think it would remain that way throughout the remainder of his journey.

And so he could only go deeper into the cave, accompanied by only the sound of his own footsteps and the radius of light coming from his torch.

Eventually, the light was not able to completely illuminate the next stretch of cave, and it only took Link a moment to realize that was because the tunnel ended into a much larger area. He lowered the torch slightly as he stepped out into the wider opening, the ceiling no longer directly above his head.

The dark mountain room was round, its top bubbling outward slightly several feet above. Link, upon stumbling outward, took in the empty cave chamber, a few dips and rises present in the floor, one on the far side of the room large and flat enough for use as a table. He stood there for a moment, as if expecting to find something he hadn't noticed at first, before he would pass through into yet another tunnel, a passage opening into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Just before he passed through, however, the flickering fire illuminated something on the wall just beside the doorway. It glistened for a moment, but it was long enough for Link's eye to catch it, pausing before he turned towards it.

It was a drawing. Link bent down closer towards it, having difficulty deciphering what it was from afar. Bringing the light directly in front of it, he saw it was a picture of horse. The animal was looking over its shoulder, away from the doorway, and when Link turned his head, he noticed that the picture continued, forming a mural in some writing only a few shades lighter than the wall it had been drawn on. Turning back to the horse, he brought his finger on the rough lines etched onto the rock, to find a chalky residue left on his hand.

He then began to examine the rest of the drawing, following the dark chalk along the wall to discover the scene connected, lifting the fire to see it went even went further up, to be near the roof. The more he uncovered, however, the darker his expression turned, the curiosity giving way to horror.

The horse, as it turns out, was fearfully looking back across the field it stood in the middle of. The sky was a torrential swirling of gray clouds, rain beating down relentlessly; water had begun to curl upward just near the horse, as if collecting on the ground in a formidable quantity, especially for a rain storm. Going further, the water connected back to larger curls, revealed to bellow forth from some massive wave. Continuing his stroll to the left, he found more waves, and more, looking at the additional geography to discover some enormous tsunami-like catastrophe had struck the subject of this drawing. There was something disconcerting about the land in which this was taking place, though, Link noticing mountains in the background, as well as a river, just before a forest far off in the background; it did not appear to be near a shore capable of producing such a tragedy.

The horse was preparing to run; it had turned around only to find its death imminent. Going further, Link ran across the first person he'd yet to see. It was a man, his head just poking out of the water, arms outstretched and unable to grab onto anything, at the crest of a wave and his mouth opened wide in a scream of terror. Rounding a corner of the room now, Link turned back to the doorway beside which was the horse, but could no longer see it; with the fire so far away, the gray chalk was hard to notice.

Turning back to the mural, he found more people, each in a situation of similar distress to the first man. They were all drowning, and surrounded by, he noticed, debris. Further into it, chunks of stone were visibly protruding out of the water, alongside the victims, as well as shards of wood and metal. Another horse was there too, less fortunate, but not for much longer, than the first. As he approached the next corner, he found the water to be escaping from within a large stone wall, the wall to a castle; most of the stone had been completely broken through, with that which remained standing beginning to tumble down in its place.

It was at this point that Link's eyes widened, and his pace quickened, following the water to see it tearing mercilessly through a village on the other side, its source still uncertain. Food stalls, people, buildings, a well, and even the remnants of a steeple, all were being erased from existence, buried under the violent, foaming water.

In the very center of the wall he'd come out of, which was originally to his back, resided the most impressive of the chalk drawings: a castle. It, however, was completely unaffected by the downpour, the rain seeming to stop short of landing upon any of the tiles or stone, the apocalyptic nightmare instead occurring all around it. From inside the windows, just as horrific scenes could be seen taking place; people were thrown from them, or else visibly murdered by some dark, unidentifiable creatures. Though the royalty was safe inside from the devastation caused by water, whatever malevolent force was at work clearly had no intentions of letting them live.

Despite the artistic fortitude the artist behind the picture showed, Link's mind was far from appreciating the chalk drawing. While the terror in the scene itself was reason enough for distress, this was not what caused Link's blue eyes to shine with fear. What caused his mind to enter into a state of panic and numbness, was the realization that had come to him early on into the drawing, only to be confirmed when he'd found the castle: it was Hyrule.

Someone in this land did know of the existence of Hyrule. Before then, he'd been sure the discovery would be good news, to know he was not alone. Now, however, the fact that Termina and Hyrule were connected in some way, frightened him. The doomsday scene was horrifying, wondering what dark, prophetic creature had sketched such a mural, if it had not been the Skull Kid.

Link lowered the torch from the drawing, his mind reeling, taking a step back from it and staring now at the floor. Was something here planning the destruction of Hyrule? Or was this some dark prediction of what would happen on its own accord? Or was it just a coincidence? Hyrule had merely been the subject of the picture. But how had someone- or something- from here known of its existence?

"_Help!_"

Link's head slowly turned to look over his shoulder, the scream having come from the continuation of the tunnel on the other side of the dark room. The fire flickering in front of him did nothing to illuminate its darkness, it across the room; the voice, however, reverberated outward from within. He stared at the tunnel for a moment longer, now in complete silence once again aside from his crackling torch, nothing else accompanying the voice and it having died away.

Link turned his body away from the picture and took a step towards the new passageway. Cautiously, he began to approach it, his eyes fearful with each stride bringing him closer to the unknown.

"_Please! Somebody help me!_" It was then that he recognized the voice.

"Tatl!" Link exclaimed, at that moment running into the tunnel, his fear forgotten. The room with the picture was left behind, it left in complete darkness as soon as the torch left the room.

"_I can't get out! Help!_" The fairy's voice was hysterical, it fearful in a way Link had never fathomed possible. Her life was in danger, and Link's mind was blank in determination to save her. He raced through the dark cave tunnel, the fairy's shouts growing louder the further in he ran. Link's run was interrupted when his foot caught on the uneven ridges of the floor; he fell to his stomach, making sure to grip the torch firmly, his arms, torso, and leg now in pain.

He lifted his head to see the next stretch of cave continue, disappearing around a corner; he could only hear his panting. Tatl's voice had stopped. "Tatl!" Link exclaimed, getting back to his feet and staggering forward, not pausing to regain his balance. "I'm right here! I'm coming!" Link rounded the corner to see yet another stretch of tunnel, all the while continuing to descend further downward into the mountain. "Tatl, say something!" Link said, beginning to panic as he approached the next sharp turn to the left. "Tatl!"

"Link?" Her voice came from ahead, just at the next turn; it came shaky and tear-ridden, her shouting having given way to crying.

"Tatl!" Link said, smiling lightly to himself, as he grabbed the edge of the corner and spun around. "I'm here..." He then saw what was on the other side.

The tunnel opened up into a larger room, similar in size to the one with the mural of Hyrule, except with a higher roof. In the middle of the room sat a bottle, it corked tightly, its contents brightly illuminating the radius around it: Tatl. Link, at first not noticing anything else about the room, went to walk to the center of it, where it appeared her glass container was simply resting. It only took his blue eyes a moment longer to notice this was not the case, however, his smile slowly fading as he retracted the foot that had been about to step into the room.

This room did not have a solid cave floor; it was filled, instead, with some black, thick, tar-like substance. The entirety of the room was in this condition, the floor not visible; he had no way to guess how deep it went, or if there even was a bottom. A few islands existed, though much too far apart to be used as stepping stones to get to the tunnel on the other side, and none near Tatl. The fairy, still trapped in the bottle, was slowly sinking into the tar-like substance, the bottom half of it already submerged. Tatl was trying her best to remain in the portion still above the dark substance, and her eyes found Link as soon as he entered the room. The two of them were only feet apart, Link looking at the massive leap separating them.

"Link!" Tatl exclaimed, the fairy perking up, wiping the tears from her eyes. She pressed her face against a small hole in the bottle; the chip wasn't large enough for her to fit through, but was plenty to allow her voice to ring out in the cave, as well as allow the goop to eventually fill the bottle and drown her. "It's you!"

"I know, and I'm coming!" Link said, worriedly looking down, but uncertain as to how to continue onward; he imagined he would sink into it just as she was, and the nearest island of rock was no where near jumping distance. "What is this stuff?"

"I don't know!" Tatl exclaimed, her wings now flapping excitedly. "He just threw me in it!"

"He?" Link inquired, his mind racing, his free hand going to his bag to think about all that was inside of it.

"That man, with the ReDead face," the fairy explained. "He tossed me in here, and left!"

"You didn't find out who he was?" he asked, the Deku mask in his bag coming to mind. "Is he still here?"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "All I know is I can't get out of this bottle, and I'm not the only thing in this black stuff."

Link, suddenly, was a Deku scrub, his paraphernalia disappearing with his human form, aside from the torch he'd set aside. He reached out his foot to tentatively touch the surface of the mysterious substance, it cold on his wooden textured feet. "What are you doing?" Tatl asked, calming herself just long enough to peer over the black surface to see him dipping his feet.

"_I'm going to hop across_," Link explained, looking at the island of rock nearest him. "_Or try to_." Tatl did not have a response, merely watching intently as he bent down to pick up the torch again and took in deep breaths.

"Link... you have to hurry...," said Tatl, her voice still shaking. "Can't you hear them? They're coming."

The Deku scrub gulped at the reflective black surface, not sure what else to do aside from hoping he could make it across as he could with water. He took one step back, picked up the torch, paused, and then ran for the edge. His feet left the tunnel and landed on the dark substance; it worked just as the water had, able to kick himself up into the air to perform another skip. It managed to be just enough. Link landed on the rock island on his hands, getting back up and turning to face Tatl, who was now to his left. She was still quite a distance away, with no ledge of safety anywhere near her; there were just enough islands to make it to the tunnel on the other side, but then he'd have to leave Tatl behind.

"_Please_," Tatl said, shivering now. "_Hurry_." Link nodded his over-sized head, not sure how to go about rescuing her. He would not have enough momentum to hop by her, lift her from the black goop, and then turn to go back. "_Just get me out of here_."

Link nervously looked around, noting how close the bottle was from being completely submerged. Thinking back to his bag, he placed his torch down and removed his mask, putting it back inside and pulling out his bow and arrow. "Tatl," Link said, notching the bow and aiming it at the bottle. "Get as close to the top left corner as you can."

Tatl did so without hesitation, and then he released the string, her bright enough to illuminate the target. The arrow traveled straight through the glass of the bottle, it shattering where the pointed tip had struck; the arrow went further to stick straight up in the black goop, the fairy flying out of the remains of glass. The fairy, looking down at the broken bottle continuing to sink, turned to see Link, standing on the rock island, bow at his side, blue eyes looking up at her happily.

Then something grabbed his ankle. Link was pulled to fall flat on his face, drug quickly across the rock towards the darkness Tatl had just escaped. He looked down to see a dark hand wrapped around it, pulling relentlessly to drag him into the depths of goop. Link turned back to his torch, his boots already entering the tar-like substance as he grabbed it and brought it down on top of the gray hand, its arm projecting out from underneath.

The hand was caught aflame, it retracting instantly to the darkness, Link scooting back up to the island only to be bombarded with several more hands. They all pulled out him tirelessly, trying to drag him from his perch of safety into whatever mystery laid below.

"Link!" Tatl exclaimed, now the only light, as the torch was violently thrown from Link's hand, it going out as it was swallowed whole by the tar. He, grabbing onto a notch in the rock and holding on, as bodies began to use him as a post to pull their selves out of the blackness, held on tightly, the humanoid creatures skeletal. He drew his sword and slashed it around blindly behind him, it cutting through thin, decayed bone; the grip on him vanished, and Link scrambled to the other side of the island, not able to see what was behind him in the darkness.

"Tatl, light the way across!" he screamed, sheathing his weapon, applying the Deku mask, and leaping into the darkness before she could process what he'd said. The skeletons grabbed for him as soon as he left the rock, their arms meeting thin air, as Link landed on the thick surface and began to kick off to the next island. Tatl came down to be just beside him, Link using her light to see the next island, land on it, and then continue to the tunnel on the other side.

Eventually, he made it, out of breath and collapsing on the floor of the continuation of the cave, turning around to see hardly anything behind him. His bright orange eyes scanned the darkness, only to see the silhouette of skeletal people standing on the island he'd been on just moments ago, several of them staring collectively at him, shrouded in darkness.

Link turned away, shivering as he removed the mask and put it into his bag, making sure to walk far away from the bank of the unknown black substance. Tatl followed, still shaking, and turned to say something to Link, before he wrapped his arms tightly around her, embracing her.

"_I love you_," Link said immediately, squeezing her tight against his chest. "_I thought you were gone._" He still shook, even as he held her, as much from the happiness of finally being reunited, as from the darkness of the cave, the fear still rampant inside of him.

"I almost was," the fairy said grimly, flying to escape his embrace, Link letting go and looking up at her, the tunnel they were in just as cramped and small as the previous ones.

"What happened?" Link asked, concerned. "After he kidnapped you?" Tatl did not say anything, merely looking away and staring off. The boy was confused, the lack of enthusiasm for their reunion discomforting; he wondered what horrors she'd gone through to leave her in such a petrified, shocked state. "You did say it was a 'he', right?"

"Yes," Tatl said simply. "I could tell by his voice."

"His voice?" Link inquired, knowing ReDeads did not possess the ability of speech, at least as far as he knew; it's ability to control him, however, had already assured him the creature was not a ReDead. "Did it sound familiar?" Tatl was still unresponsive, continuing to remain zoned out. "Tatl... I'm just here to help; it's me, Link. What did he do to you? Are you okay?"  
"Let's just get out of here," Tatl said darkly.

Link, uncertainly turning away from the fairy, looked over his shoulder at the room filled with the dark liquid. "I don't know if it's a good idea trying to get passed those skeleton things again."

"There's another way out," Tatl explained, finally speaking and turning back to face him. "It's the way he brought me in."

Link, turning back to meet her eyes, nodded his head. "Lead the way, then," he suggested, following behind his fairy. "I guess we can talk as soon as we know we're safely out of here." Tatl nodded her head weakly, trying her best to give him a smile. The fairy flew onward through the tunnels, Link silently following her, and wondering where exactly the passageway would branch out to make directions necessary.

"I can't believe I actually found you," Link finally said, after a few moments of them traveling in silence. "I really didn't think I was going to be able to, like..." He trailed off. "... like all of the other times I was too late."

"Yeah," Tatl remarked simply, seeming spaced out despite the fact that she was leading the way. Link than began to wonder if he _had _been too late, hoping the damage done to her wasn't permanent.

As the journey continued, the tunnel began to widen, it soon several feet across and with a much higher ceiling; the walkway was no longer provocative of claustrophobia, though the darkness still persisted, the slope downward beginning to level out.

"Did he... bring you to the other side?" Link asked, wondering how much longer this dark system of tunnels could go.

"No," the fairy said. "He didn't."

Then, Link saw a speck of light far ahead. His heart instantly leaped with excitement, a smile spread across his face; he hadn't been this happy to see light since his trek in the Woodfall Temple. The darkness here had a much stronger presence, however. "I see the way out!" Tatl exclaimed, turning back to him happily, Link smiling at her excitement. "That's where he brought me in!"

"Then let's get out of here, before those skeleton things decide to follow us," Link said, much more pleasantly than he had spoken in a while. The two quickened their pace, until they came to a crossroads: left spiraled sharply up to an exit of the underground and the cave, sunlight pouring in and illuminating the dark black stone. The right was a continuation of the cave, the tunnels going onward into further, deeper darkness.

"Finally," Link said, stepping into the sunlight and allowing it to warm him; it felt heavenly on his skin, closing his eyes and allowing it to bathe him. When he opened them, the outside world was still blindingly bright to him, but it was only because his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. He turned to meet Tatl's eyes again, who stood levitated in the air behind him, smiling, before turning back to go up the slope and leave the caves.

"_Hey!_"

Link, hearing the voice from off into the part of the cave he'd just come from, turned around to see a darker light coming towards him. He stopped just before climbing up the slope, turning to see Tael flying at him. The purple fairy appeared confused, looking at him worriedly "_What are you doing?!_"

"Tael?" Link inquired. "I thought you didn't want to come?"

"I wasn't going to, but then I..." Tael stopped and looked away, before turning back to him, "... She is my sister, and I didn't have anywhere else to go, and..."

"Who are you talking to?" Tatl asked, flying down by Link's side and trying to follow his gaze, which was making contact with the purple fairy's eyes.

"...What do you mean?" Link asked, interrupting Tael and turning to face his sister. "Your brother?" His eyes went back and forth between the two fairies, Tael stopping and raising an eyebrow when Link spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Tael asked.

"Link," Tatl began, sounding worried. "Go up the slope. It's one of the cave's tricks; my brother's not really there, because I don't see him. Don't let him try to talk you out of leaving."

Link closed his mouth, having opened it to respond to Tael, but suddenly worried as he went to look back at Tatl. His blue eyes were once again filled with fear, turning to look at the light longingly once more.

"Are you...," Tael said uneasily, as if uncertain as to what to say.

"Just go!" the white fairy exclaimed. "It's just like the edge of Termina in the forest, remember? When you saw Zelda?"

Link took a step towards the light, Tatl remaining right by his side. Tael, however, suddenly jumped up in alarm. "Wait, stop! Right now! _What are you doing?!_" Link hesitantly drew his foot back, opening his mouth, but not knowing who to speak to or what to say.

"Don't listen to him! He's not really there!" Tatl exclaimed. "Look, you finally found me; we can be together again if you just walk out of the cave with me right now. Don't let the darkness trick you!"

"It's the cave!" Tael suddenly exclaimed. "Don't let it trick you! Whatever's trying to get you to do that, just stop!"

"Do what?" Link inquired, frustration beginning to build inside of him. "The exit's right there!"

"I know, so go!" the white fairy pleaded. "Please! _Hurry!_"

"What exit?!" Tael exclaimed. "The only exit is the way we both came in, and you know that!"

Link, as soon as he saw Tatl begin to speak her retaliation, had an idea; he reached into his bag slowly and discreetly, hoping neither of the fairies would notice, not sure which to believe. "Link, there's nothing left for us in this cave. Going to the other side of Termina isn't worth it."

His hands found the handle, of what would reveal to him the truth. Link pulled the Lens of Truth out of his bag, Tatl silencing herself as soon as he did, Tael looking at it curiously. "What is that?" he asked. Link didn't answer, putting it to his eyes and looking through. Tael was still there, the purple fairy looking at him with one eyebrow raised.

Link eyes widened, and he began to tremble slightly as he turned around slowly, keeping the Lens of Truth over his right eye, the left one shut. When his eyes found where Tatl should be, she was gone, as was the light. Link turned more fully to see where the tunnel had sloped upward, only to find a cave wall lined with sharp, blood-stained spikes, exactly where the passage to the exit had been. Four skeletons were up against the wall, the spikes driven through them, Link realizing they'd all walked into them on their own accord, as he almost had.

Link opened his mouth in shock, backing away from the spikes and bringing the Lens of Truth away. The outside world did not reappear, and neither did Tatl, the illusions now permanently shattered. He breathed in and out deeply, shocked, before opening his mouth and beginning to turn back to face Tael.

"Tha-" He was cut short, however, hands gripping his shirt and throwing him into the opposite cave wall. The Lens of Truth left his hand and bounced off of the floor a few feet away, as Link's back met the cold stone. He was suddenly face to face with Anju. The innkeeper's hands went from grabbing his shoulders to wrapping around his neck before he could comment on the matter, squeezing the air out of him as she continued pushing him up against the wall, Link's blue eyes wide in disbelief.

"Whoa!" Tael exclaimed, backing away from the blonde haired boy. "What's happening?!"

Link, summoning all the strength he could, began to wriggle his way out of her grip, Anju unable to completely hold him still from the position they were in. The innkeeper, before he could get away, grabbed him by the shoulders once more and flung him on the ground, this time pinning him there as she continued to strangle him. Link found himself incapable of moving, looking up into the menacing eyes baring down into his own hatefully.

"You let me die, you selfish bastard!" she exclaimed, the innkeeper's voice exactly as he had remembered it, hatred etched into every line in her face, vengeance lighting up her eyes. "You'd kill me again, wouldn't you, if I let you go?"

Link pushed the words out of his head, squeezing his eyes shut and hoping she would go away, telling himself she wasn't real; however, the fingers around his throat remained very real, and the life left in his body continued to ebb away. He opened his eyes and tried his best to turn his head, his eyes finding the Lens of Truth lying just feet from him. He took his left hand off of his Anju's wrist, reaching for the lens lying just beside him; it was barely out of his reach, Link trying his best to stretch that last bit, stars appearing in his vision as his breath ran short, his choking noises waning as Anju tightened her inhumanly strong grip around his neck.

"You're a monster," she said, her anger beginning to give way to sadness, even as she continued to murder him. "You let everyone that cares about you die for you. All you're doing is feeding the darkness you're trying to run from."

Tael watched horrified at what appeared to be Link being strangled by nothing, unsure if whatever was attacking Link was just an illusion or invisible to him, not certain if he should risk flying near it to scoot the lens closer.

Link's fingers touched the Lens of Truth nonetheless, quickly wrapping them around the handle before all the strength left him and bringing it over his eye. The instant he looked through it, Anju was gone, as were the fingers around his neck and the hateful words; air flooded back into his lungs, Link coughing violently as he lowered the lens once more and scooted back against the cave wall, not having the strength yet to stand.

He sat there for a moment, his cough raspy, his eyes watering, as he began to regulate his breathing once more, back to the wall and lens by his side. Tael, uncertainly remaining where he was for a moment longer, inched his way closer to Link.

"Are you... okay?" the purple fairy asked, expecting another invisible attacker to come out of no where again.

Link nodded his head, coughing instead of speaking.

"What was that thing?!"

"... I don't think she was real," Link said, his breathing returning to normal after a few moments of silence. "It was an illusion." The fairy looked at him in confusion, as if not understanding. "Like you said... how the cave does that..."

"Illusions don't strangle people," Tael pointed out. "I can understand it trying to get you to impale yourself, but how can something that's not real physically kill you?"

Link looked off, thinking of an answer before turning back to him; it had all seemed so real. The fingers around his neck, the words; there was nothing imaginary about them. "I guess the same way you can see it, even though it's not real. It tricks all of your senses."

"So... do you think you actually would have been killed by it?" Tael inquired. "Even though it's not real?"

Link didn't have an answer, grabbing the Lens of Truth firmly in his hand. "I'm not taking any chances." The boy stood back up, still panting slightly as looked back and forth down the tunnel, he and Tael the only ones.

"I guess... the only way is forward?" Link suggested, looking down to the cave tunnels continuing further downward.

"... I guess," Tael commented uneasily.

Link, looking back over his shoulder at Tael once more, took the next step forward, Tael only taking a moment to follow.

"Thanks for coming back for me," Link said.

"I didn't do anything, though," Tael said. "I just happened to be what was needed to wake you up..."

"No, coming back is definitely something," Link assured him. "Tatl always..." He stopped short, his heart sinking and his footsteps halting when full realization struck: he hadn't actually saved Tatl. The bottle, the fairy, all of it; it had been a trick. She was still lost, still out there somewhere. Tears began to fill his eyes, but he fought them back before they escaped, pressing onward and refusing to allow himself to stop.

Tael, confused by his sudden stop, followed as he soon as he began again, looking off before turning to the back of Link's head again, remaining just behind. "My sister was the one talking to you, wasn't she?" Link nodded his grimly, not turning to look back at Tael, but following the passageway. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Link said. "It's not your fault, Tael. You came back to save me."

"Yeah... you know, I just realized I have no idea what your name is." Link stopped walking at this, realizing it was true. He turned around to make sure he was face to face with the purple fairy, his light all that saved them from absolute darkness. The image of Tael, struck by the Skull Kid's lightning, flashed across his mind, the fairy killed, dull and lifeless, underneath the awesome moon; this, of course, was in some reality that may or may not still exist, left behind by the magic his ocarina possessed.

"Well, Tael, my name's Link," he said, introducing himself, holding out his hand. "I originally came here to look for my lost fairy, but now I'm here to do what I can for Termina."

Tael looked at his hand uncertainly, before wrapping his own hand around Link's pointer finger, his hands not large enough to actually shake it in its entirety. "My name's Tael, and I'm Tatl's brother... even though you already knew that. I'm... here to help you look for Tatl." Link nodded, the two of them shaking, before Link turned to continue the journey, Tael now flying by his side.

"So, you came here to find your fairy?" Tael asked. "As in... one other than Tatl?"  
"Yeah," Link answered. "But I've given up looking for her."

"Huh... and then you end up looking for a fairy anyways," Tael commented. "That's kind of weird."

Link, not having thought about this, nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, that is kind of weird."

_Kiss me_.

The voice was soft and sweet, Link envisioning the beautiful lips forming the words. Zelda's bright eyes were vividly blue to him still, even as a memory. He was phased for only a moment, Link walking onward in spite of the voice, it rising from somewhere in the darkness, and not something he could make go away with the Lens of Truth.

"Did you hear that?" Tael asked, looking over his shoulder sharply. "It sounded like..."

"Don't worry about it," Link said, eyes narrowed in determination to not be slowed any further. "It's not real." He knew Tael probably had heard some other voice, one that was personal only to him, but it didn't make a difference to the cave, or to their situation; it was trying to lure them, in whatever way best for the individual being lured.

_You don't have to go_.

Link stopped, when the tunnel made a sudden drop, it suddenly sloping downward at a dangerously steep angle. The other problem was that it was completely submerged in water, it appearing clear and cool in the darkness; the only way to progress further would be to dive into it, and swim through. Tael had stopped just beside him, both of them peering into the still water, and wondering what could be hiding within.

Link rose the Lens of Truth to cover one eye; the water was gone instantly, it only existing in his peripheral vision, where the lens could not reach.

"That thing... it shows you what's real?"

"Yes," Link answered. "And the water definitely isn't. I'm not sure if anything in this cave is. Did you pass over a pool of black tar on your way through?"

"No," Tael answered immediately, Link scoffing, when he realized he could have made it go away the entire time. "But I did pass a drawing on my way in. Of a castle... a whole land... being destroyed by some massive flood."

Link's expression once again darkened at this. "Stay close to me," he said. "The water's probably real unless you're looking through this."

"So shattering the illusion for one of the senses does it for all of the others, huh?" the fairy asked, flying to be just next to his head, so as to look through the lens, too.

"Thankfully."

The two of them began to walk together, descending down the steep slope into the water that only existing around them, it touching the edges of the lens but not able to exist on the other side. Link did not dare to lower it, knowing that doing so would cause all of the water to rush in around the spot where it currently could not exist, and drown them.

It wasn't until a good minute into the journey that he realized there were other things floating in the water around him. At first they were all non-unique; a brick, stone, or blade of grass, an occasional clump of dirt passing by. But then people began to. They were all vaguely familiar, each accompanied by some piece of wood or debris, and it wasn't until Link saw a thin, red-haired lady float by lifelessly that he realized what he was seeing. These were pieces of Hyrule; all around him, pieces of the marketplace, pieces of the ranch floated by, as well as all of the villagers, dead and bloated, having been either drowned or beaten by the water. Anju's body floating by confirmed this; he was walking through the aftermath of the mural he'd seen painted earlier in the cave.

_Navi, what do you think is going to be here after Hyrule?_

His own voice spoke to him in the darkness, remembering the sunny day in which he'd been in Hyrule Field with his guardian fairy.

_Hyrule can never be gone! We were ordained by the Gods to be here, Link._

Link gulped, his eyes wide in terror as Anju's red hair floated by in the water, it just brushing passed his face, himself not feeling it, her own face wide in shock, as if not having expected death. He remembered her in the South Clock Town plaza, flying into the air when the ground exploded underneath her.

_It's so pretty out here._

Zelda's voice reminded Link of the time they were lying in the green field of Lon Lon Ranch, side by side, looking up into a beautiful, clear sky. Her voice was just as beautiful as it was then. Tears began to well in his eyes as he remembered the sound of it, the woman he would always love, lying just beside him.

_I don't ever want these days to end._

"Me neither," Link said, mouthing the response he knew he had given, quietly to himself.

_You're... happy, right?_

"Of course, Zelda," Link repeated to himself, closing his eyes as he envisioned the beautiful world that had been Hyrule. "I'm in love with you, and this place. Hyrule is my home, and it always will be."

Then water suddenly came all around him, knocking the Lens of Truth out of his hands, as his eyes were closed. His eyes shot open to find the lens torn away from him, bodies floating to separate him from it, it dancing to the bottom of the tunnel, as Link floated toward the ceiling, which offered no escape from the water, the tunnel filled in its entirety. He'd hardly been given a moment to breathe, Link suddenly out of air and completely under water, turning to see Tael in the same condition, the fairy floating upward as well, his wings unable to flap, just as shocked as he was.

Link desperately swam down for the Lens of Truth, grabbing one of the bodies of the villagers and pushing it out of his way, only to reveal another one just behind it. Link began to panic, the air in his cheeks dwindling fast as he fought to push as many bodies out of the way as he could, not bothering to see how long the water went on, not trusting it to end any time soon.

Each corpse he grabbed merely looked at him with lifeless eyes, each face engraved with an expression of permanent fear, or grief, none having had any hope left in the last moments of life. Link tried to pay no attention to the faces, telling himself they were all fake, knowing that they were merely products of the dark magic; it did nothing to make them go away, though, and the water remained there to rob him of oxygen.

It was as his vision blurred that he pushed away the last body, presented with the Lens of Truth, lying motionlessly at the bottom of the tunnel. He grabbed it, trying to bring it over his face, but unable to; bodies continuously got in the way, and his vision was too blurred to perhaps even make a difference, should he manage to look through it.

Link, panicking in his last moments of consciousness, his head ringing and his vision fading, saw two things further down the tunnel: Tael, floating apparently lifeless, and the shimmering of the surface of the water. Link kicked madly towards it, swimming towards the surface and grabbing Tael on his way towards it, Lens of Truth tightly gripped in his left hand.

Then, he broke the water, taking in large gulps of air as he climbed out of the water into more tunnel, the dark surface cool and high enough to where the water did not reach. He collapsed onto the cave floor, laying Tael just beside him as he coughed the water out that he'd swallowed. Now drenched, Link looked up to see the purple fairy's light was still on, himself stirring and coughing on his own accord.

Link closed his eyes, sighing with relief, when he looked up, having just noticed something.

Light.

The tunnel went on for several more feet, before simply ending, with no more dips or slopes; it continued straight on into what appeared to be an exit. Link was stunned when he looked up to find this, the light at the end of the tunnel not quite as bright and fantastic as the earlier illusion had been. He turned to Tael, still recovering, and then grabbed the Lens of Truth, raising it over his eye before looking at the exit.

It did not go away. They'd finally made it, to the end. When Link lowered it, the dampness ordaining his clothes and body vanished, as if the water had never existed. Turning back to look into the tunnel he'd crawled out of, he looked to see it was no longer there.

Tael struggled to get to his feet, shaking his wings out before lifting back into the air, looking up at Link as the two of them recovered. It was then that the fairy noticed the light, turning around to see the end of the tunnel himself.

"Is that...?"

"Yes," Link said. "It's for real this time."

"But, on the other side of the mountains... That's not apart of Termina."

"I know," Link said, stepping to exit the cave, gripping the handle of the lens tight, the purple fairy close beside him.

They walked together, side by side, towards the unknown, through the last stretch of tunnel.

_**It is time to bathe**_.

This time it was Majora's voice that rang through their ears, as they took the last steps within Termina, to pass out of the cave. Link noticed there was no snow dotting the exit.

_**In the darkness. In the ash.**_

Then, Link stepped into the light, outside of the cave, Tael flying just beside him.

_**In the truth.**_

* * *

Darkness. That was the first word that popped into Link's head, as he stepped onto the small platform of rock outside, level with the rest of the ground. His blue eyes, at first wide in amazement as he stepped towards what was expected to be some fantastic new truth, were now wide with despair, as he took in his surroundings.

The sky was sea of black clouds, grumbling darkly, lightning flashing, bolts cutting across threateningly, the sky completely blotted out. The ground was one flat, level field of ash, stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction, except behind them, where the mountain range of Snowhead remained strong and tall.

And that was all there was. Debris lay scattered in the ash, any buildings that had once been there now black, charred, and leveled, along with the rest of the land. It was a flat plain of desolation, the civilization that had once been here completely wiped out, these remnants all that remained. It was darkness; it was death. The plain went into the distance as far as the eye could see, it blurred with the darkness of the sky, it impossible to draw a line to separate the two and find a horizon. The sky continued grumbling above them, an endless storm, as if all that needed to be said on what lay before them.

Link, looking down at the rock platform they stood on, noted that it only went a few feet, before giving way to the ash. He walked slowly towards its edge, stopping just before stepping into it, taking in the scene before him in horror. Link, uncertain at first, began to slowly reach down, as if to put his hand in the ash, to grab a handful of it and allow it to run through his fingers. Tael remained behind at the entrance to the system of caves, disturbed.

Link, however, stopped himself just before he touched the scarred land; the scar on his chest had begun to bubble with excitement, as if wanting him to touch it. It took immense willpower for him to retract his hand, and take a step back, not wanting to know what would happen if he satisfied that urge.

"It's... terrible," Tael said, flying up just beside him after they stood there for a moment longer. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know," Link said, remembering the forest he'd been in before he'd entered the underground system leading to Clock Town. It didn't make sense, geographically, for this to exist; where was the forest he'd first entered? Was this it? Was the damage done here that recent? Why did it stop at the mountains?

He didn't think it was possible that this land of darkness was only a day old, the ruins looking to be ancient. Somehow, he also knew that this is what he would find across the border on every edge of Termina. Across the forest, across the ocean, on the other side of the canyon; all there was, and ever would be, was ash. Termina was a spot, the last one remaining in a wasteland of nothing, and the moon looked down on it, ready to destroy the one last beacon of light. Link wondered how long the darkness stretched, how long the nothingness existed, before Hyrule would be there. He remembered the painting of Hyrule being destroyed, and of the lifeless bodies floating in the water, and his stomach churned.

This could not be Hyrule, however. A land destroyed by water could never have been left so dry, and dark.

"Let's go," Tael suggested, turning away from the darkness. "Tatl's not here. Nobody is."

"Maybe that's why the Skull Kid always comes here, when he's weak," Link theorized. "It strengthens him. I think this is what he wants Termina to become."

"No," Tael said. "He's not... he's not _that_ evil... He can't be... He was our friend..." Link turned around and noticed the fairy staring off into the cave; he stepped away from the dark land, walking to be just beside Tael.

"It's the mask," he explained. "Your friend would never have done this."

Tael looked up at him over his shoulder, before he looked back at the cave.

"Let's just get out of here," the fairy suggested. He flew back to the underground system, Link holding the Lens of Truth firm in his hand as he went to follow.

He stopped, however, before going into the cave. Slowly, Link turned back around, lifting the lens up to his eyes, closing them tightly before opening them and peering through.

The darkness, the nothingness, the desolation, the hopelessness; it did not go away. The wasteland was still there.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous reviewers:

Steph, Chapter 1: Thanks! That was definitely what I hoped to accomplish!

E, Chapter 1: Why thank you very much!

Mugen Kagemaru, Chapter 27: It does appear that way! I actually foreshadow them meeting in the mountains as early on as Chapter 10, if you remember that far back. And, assuming you read the chapter above before you read this, you now have your answer, in regards to what lays beyond Termina!

Wolflink, Chapter 27: Thanks! I did finally get back to writing it again, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Dissident Soul, Chapter 27: Wow; I most certainly feel honored to have received all of the compliments in your review! I definitely want to do something with writing, but we'll see what ends up happening. As for the owl, I wish I'd thought of a way to work him as well; I think I have him flying overhead at some point, though I guess that's not the same as him actually being a character. As for seeing the Great Fairy and receiving the Spin Attack... I suppose it slipped Link's mind? As all the events surrounding that point in time were quite traumatic; though, from my point of view, it just would have seemed forced. The spin attack really isn't necessary in the story; I always try to at least allude to everything from the game that I cut out in this story, however, which is why it was mentioned at all! I try my best to keep in as much as I can and still have a well-formed, tight storyline.


	29. Tael

_Chapter 29: Tael_

_Tael, you're such an idiot._

The cave spoke to him once more, the purple fairy looking forward through the Lens of Truth in determination, set on not allowing the darkness's tricks to affect him. He was flying just beside Link's head, the two of them using the instrument to shatter the illusions the darkness conjured. The voices, however, could not be stopped, and they brought Tael back to a stormy night with his sister.

_This is the third time this has happened!_

"I didn't know!" Tael exclaimed. "It was empty! How was I supposed to know there was something living in it?"

"That's your job!" responded the white fairy bluntly. "You're responsible for finding shelter for the night, so we don't get stuck in rain like this. You're too incompetent to put in charge of anything else! Din knows we'd have starved to death _long_ ago if I'd let you make this many mistakes with food!"

The two glowing orbs darted in between the trees of Termina's forest, the monstrous rain beating down relentlessly; they were looking frantically for shelter, the cold and wetness beginning to grow too much for their small fairy bodies to handle. The trees were not close enough to provide a canopy capable of shielding them from water, and they knew going deeper into the forest wouldn't be any safer, especially with the intention of sleeping.

"There were no signs of life anywhere in the hallow! There was no way for me to know a pack of keese lived in it!"

Tatl stopped flying at this, not turning around to face Tael even though she was slightly ahead of him. Tael stopped behind her nonetheless, the rain not ceasing its progress even though they'd stopped theirs. They remained floating there for a moment longer, Tael not sure if he should open his mouth, as Tatl refused to face him, staring off ahead.

"Tatl...?"

"A colony."

Tael didn't understand, shaking his head and flying to be a bit closer. "I don't..."

"It's a _colony_ of keese," Tatl said, spinning around abruptly to now be face to face with her brother, stopping him from flying any closer. "But you know what does live in a pack? Wolfos. And do you think wolfos would hesitate to rip us apart for a midnight snack? No, they wouldn't. You know how I know that? You know why you _should_ know that? Because an entire pack of wolfos is what killed our family, Tael. And do you know why that happened? Because we didn't pick a safe enough spot; because we were too careless. Me and you are the only ones who got out of there alive, and I was the one who carried you out since you were too young to escape yourself."

Tatl still stared intently into her brother's eyes, the latter of which only returning a wide-eyed, pitiful stare. "Do you know how different our lives are now, because of that? Do you know how hard it is, having to grow up with no one to look up to, with no one to lean on? No, you don't; because you've always had me! You're so _lucky_ I survived whoever's mistake that was, or you would have been dead years ago. Now, let's say I'd been bat food tonight; then what? We'd be repeating history. You'd have made all of those family members' sacrifices that night in vain, because then you're helpless self would have you dead in a week.

"So... what is your job, your only job? To find. Shelter. That means, you make _sure_ nothing lives in it. You make _sure_ nothing can reach us, and therefore eat us. You make _sure_ it doesn't cave in and fall down on top of us as soon as it starts raining. You know why? So we don't die, like everyone else we knew! Thank Nayru I didn't inherit the genes that got our family killed too, or else you wouldn't have someone here looking out for you. You're so pathetic, Tael; why can't you ever carry _any_ of your own weight?"

Link, whose booted footsteps were the only real sounds in the entirety of the cave, slipped slightly on one of the uneven ridges, managing to catch himself before he fell. Once he regained his balance, Link scoffed, shaking his head as he went to bring the Lens of Truth back up to his eye. "I can't wait to be out of this cave."

He stopped short, however, when he noticed Tael shivering in his peripheral. Link turned to face him fully, noticing that the purple fairy had stopped flying, a single tear trickling down his cheek as he stared off. The boy looked off for a moment, understanding what was happening but not entirely sure what to say at first. "Is it the voices?"

Tael didn't respond, continuing to stare off, Link knowing that they'd brought back some haunting memory, either to make him long for the past, or else relive its darker moments. "If its making you think of some specific memory, you can always turn it around, or find some sort of silver lining."

The purple fairy broke his trance at this, looking down at Link inquisitively. "What?"

"The cave tries to bring out everything from your past that you don't want to remember," the boy reasoned. "But only because of the way it presents itself. It made me think of... someone I miss very much." Link looked off at this, ahead to where the cave continued. He straighted himself, however, reapplying the Lens of Truth and beginning to step forward once more. "But I have to keep telling myself that those were good times, that I should be happy remembering them. The cave doesn't want you to feel happy, though, so it leaves those parts out on purpose."

Tael thought deeply about what Link had said, flying down next to his head once more to look through the Lens of Truth, his mind flashing back to the memory that had been playing. Link, meanwhile, looked to see the fairy had returned to his trance. When the boy turned back to looking forward, his blue eyes shown once again with the deep sadness he'd attempted to mask when just speaking to Tael. Truthfully, those memories brought him nothing but pain; they made a scar, just as permanent and dark as the one on his chest. And so he continued staring forward, continued to try and not react to the voices speaking to him about Zelda, Anju, and Tatl. Link discreetly wiped another tear from his cheek...

Tatl and Tael remained directly across from each other, after Tatl had finished screaming. Her seething, anger filled eyes did not waver from Tael's, until she saw them beginning to well with tears. Tatl's wings began to lower from their erect, tense state, her expression softening as her brother began to cry, the rain around them a constant ambiance.

"Tael...," the white fairy began.

"No, you're right," Tael said, shaking his head and trying to hastily wipe the tears away. "I'm useless; you can't trust me with anything."

"Tael, look, I didn't mean it. Okay?" Tatl said, her brother now the one keeping his back to her. "It's cold, and rainy, and I'm just angry, so I just said that stuff. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"It doesn't matter, if that's how you really feel. Whether or not you were angry, that doesn't change what's... _true_. I'm sorry I'm always relying on you for everything, and can't do anything on my own."

Tatl, her face still expressing regret, turned away to try and grasp for words. "But you're... supposed to." Tael, not having expected this statement, looked over his shoulder back at her. "You're supposed to rely on me; I'm... your guardian. Ever since our family died, it's been my responsibility to look after you, and that's no fault of yours. I'm the older one, so I have a lot more experience than you, and you weren't always able to take care of yourself. So... if anyone's a failure, it's me; if you can't look for shelter correctly, it's because I didn't teach you right. It's... not right for me to blame you for any of this stuff; it's not your fault you're the younger one, and have to deal with a grumpy old sister like me for help."

Tatl looked down hesitantly before she said anything else, Tael looking after her with still wide eyes, the tears having stopped. She then flew straight into him, hugging him tightly, the purple fairy not having expected this either. "I'm sorry, Tael. Please don't believe any of the mean stuff I said to you; I promise I was just mad. I didn't mean any of it."

Tael, at first still shocked, slowly settled into the hug, a faint smile spreading across his face. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you say sorry,"

Tatl laughed at that, flying back from him to return his smile. "Don't get used to it; that's probably the last time you'll ever hear me say it." Their smiles quickly faded, however, the bone chilling cold causing them to shiver, the seriousness of the situation they were returning. "We should probably keep moving."

Tael nodded eagerly in agreement, and the two fairies began looking franticly for shelter once more. Minutes passed, and still, nothing presented itself, the trees growing thinner as the two knew they were nearing Termina Field. They pressed on nonetheless, flying from tree to tree, examining boulder after boulder; each was either already occupied or unable to shield them from the cold and rain.

Tatl and Tael soon found themselves huddled together for warmth, side-by-side as they flew amidst the downpour of rain. "Maybe we should just go to Clock Town," Tael suggested. "We can hide under a stall or something."

Tatl, at first hesitant to agree, realized they had no choice. They'd be rudely awakened by the owner at sunrise when the shops opened, but the alternative was much grimmer. His sister nodded in agreement, and then they flew for the tree line.

They were soon in the great field just outside of Clock Town, the round, walled city easily within walking distance, as well as the observatory just outside of it. The dark, stormy sky ominously shook with thunder, high above everything and casting a shadow of gloom. They hadn't made much progress at all towards the village before Tatl spotted a large, hollowed out, over-turned log in the middle of the field, the rain bouncing off of its rounded outside.

"Hey!" Tatl exclaimed to her brother, nudging against the shaking purple fairy. "Over there!" Tael didn't bother to protest, his wings expressing agreement, and the two quickly flew to be within its protective innards. The two fairies entered at the same time, having now escaped the rain; the inside of the log was dark and dry, the noise of the water still loud all around them. Tael still shook madly from being wet and cold, huddled in the air against his sister as the two struggled to provide each other warmth. "It's okay Tael... we're all right now."

Then Tael's wings suddenly stiffened in shock, and Tatl almost inquired upon this, until she followed his line of sight and saw that they were not the only ones hiding from the rain. On the other side of the log, sitting on the grass and shivering up against the wall, was a creature with small glowing eyes, a beak-like mouth, scare-crow like skin, and frayed old clothing, small and defenseless: a skull kid. The purple and white fairy looked down sadly at the Skull Kid, who they realized was crying as he shivered... alone.

"What happened to checking out our hiding spots first?" Tael whispered bitterly back to his sister.

"Hey, don't yell at me!" Tatl whispered sharply back. "We've only been in here for a few seconds, and besides, we're a little desperate at the moment." The two fairies turned to look back down at the Skull Kid, who looked as miserable as he had been before. After one last exchange of glances, Tatl cleared her throat, and went to fly down and confront him, Tael at first going to stop her, but deciding against it.

"Hey... are you okay?" the white fairy asked, just a few feet away from him, the Skull Kid still staring at the opposite side of the wall and shaking.

"_Th-th-they left me... they really left me..._" He refused to acknowledge Tatl, or else was too engrossed in his memories to realize she was actually there.

"Who...?"

"... _My friends...,_" the Skull Kid said. "_They didn't really care about me..._"

Tatl, at first hesitant to continue, realized they would never find a better place to rest than here, especially with a creature that appeared to pose no possible threat. "We... me and my brother... could be your friends." The Skull Kid turned away from the other side of the log for the first time, his wide eyes finding Tatl's. "We don't have any friends either, and we don't have a home. We need somewhere to stay, and..."

The Skull Kid embraced her before she could finish her sentence. Tatl, at first alarmed, ended her brief resistance when she noticed that the imp was still shaking, and crying. "_Please..._" Tatl stopped, eyes still shocked, but soon the shock passed, when she realized their combined warmth was beginning to aid in fighting the cold of the weather. They were both helpless, and lost.

Tael, at first hesitantly watching the two from above, slowly flew down to join them.

It wasn't long before the three of them were all huddled together for warmth as the dark skies continued to pour above, the rain hammering endlessly on the world below it...

Tael, recalling the hug Tatl had given him, as well as the first time they'd met the Skull Kid, wiped away another tear, this time not out of sadness, but out of the happiness he could derive from the memory the cave had left out. It was at that moment also that the purple fairy realized Link had stopped walking.

They'd entered a larger cavern within the cave, Tael realizing this to be the one with the dark chalk drawing. Link walked up to the wall once more to look at the portion of the drawing showing the castle, Tael flying up beside him to illuminate it. The Lens of Truth did not make it vanish; the dark prophecy still remained in place.

"It looks like a great flood, wiping out an entire kingdom," Tael commented, as he beheld the picture just beside the green-clad youth.

"It's Hyrule," Link said. "The land I'm from."

"Hyrule?" Tael commented, turning his head.

"Yes. But... nothing like this has ever happened. When I left, everything was still... right."

Tael took a moment to respond, processing what he'd said. "... When did you leave?"

Link opened his mouth to respond, but then he realized he wasn't quite sure what the answer was. Should he include the loops he'd spent in Termina, or was it still as if he'd only arrived two days ago? Even then, the furthest Link could go back was being in the dense forest with Epona. He'd woken up from a nap, up against a tree...

His mind flashed to racing on the back of his horse, the sun shining brilliantly behind him, hurrying to return back to the castle... _No, after that_... He was kneeling before her tombstone; having finished tracing the Z in her name, he brought his head and hand down, as tears welled in his eyes. The mask salesman spoke from behind him. "It's such a tragedy. It was so sudden, and unexpected. And to be torn apart from her, when you were both so young... you have no idea how truly sorry I am."

He saw the inside of a cabin, the wood old and decaying. Then he heard Epona neigh fearfully, as the hooded creature with the face of a ReDead flashed across his vision...

"... Link?"

Link shook his head, the visions fading and the memory he'd hoped to retrieve still lost. He'd thought with the realization regarding Zelda that he'd uncovered everything, but there was something important he was still missing. Link looked back up to the picture on the cave wall, his brow furrowed. Somehow, it all connected... the great flood destroying Hyrule... Zelda's death... the creature with the ReDead face... Majora's Mask... Termina... There was one simply thing tying all of this together, but it was just out of his mind's reach...

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Link said, his train of thought once again interrupted. "I just can't remember how long I've been gone, and... this picture." He looked back up at it one last time. "It doesn't give me a good feeling."

"If that was my home, it wouldn't give me a good feeling either," Tael agreed, looking at it darkly.

Link turned away, and his eyes shot wide open when he found someone else standing across the room from them. The figure was wearing a black robe, a hood thrown completely over its head and shielding its face. Link opened his mouth to say something in warning, but then it shot its face up, and Link made eye contact with the horrible face underneath.

He was gripped with the familiar sensation, the blood in his veins frozen and no longer under his control. His eyes were forced to look into those lifeless, ReDead ones, and his mouth was stuck in the half-warning he'd meant to give Tael. The Lens of Truth fell from his hands on to the cave floor just beside him.

The purple fairy didn't notice anything had happened at first, until he heard odd choking noises coming from Link. Tael turned to look down, and saw Link in the awkward position he was in, as if frozen. "Link?" Tael inquired, flying to be closer, and looking around to see nothing else in the room. When the purple fairy looked back, however, he saw Link unsheathing his sword, and this, rather than comfort him, unnerved him even more. "... What are you doing?" He saw the fear in Link's eyes, and then realized what he was doing was out of his control.

"Whoa, whatever's happening, it's not real!" Tael explained franticly, looking down to see that this was not changing anything. Link, his sword now drawn, put both hands around the handle, turning the Razor Sword's blade to point at his own chest...

"No! Stop, stop, right there!" Tael's eyes swiftly scanned the room for the Lens of Truth, which he quickly flew towards as soon as he found it.

Link, not able to look at himself as he did it, stared into the eyes of his unknown enemy as he was forced to raise his sword to end his own life. He could feel his muscles tightening to bring it down into his own heart, when Tael flew the Lens of Truth directly in front of his eyes. The ReDead faced creature vanished, and Link collapsed to the floor, his Razor Sword landing just in front of him.

Gasping for air, Link laid on the cave bottom for a moment longer, not getting up as he slid his sword back into his scabbard and grabbed the Lens of Truth into his hand. "I think... we should get out of this cave while we still can." Tael nodded in agreement, and Link got to his feet, only taking a moment to recuperate on the cave wall. Once he had the Lens of Truth in front of him, he and Tael began taking the last stretch of the journey back to the outside world.

* * *

Then, came the final turn. Link felt a smile break across his face, lowering the Lens of Truth and finally slipping it into his bag, as sunlight was suddenly a blinding ball just ahead of him. The boy and fairy climbed the slightly inclined slope eagerly, the remnants of the fire and the dusting of snow still there. They could feel the winter chill once again presenting itself, but it was welcome in comparison to the cold the cave offered.

They stepped out of the perfectly circular opening of the cave and into deep snow, Link laughing to himself as he looked up into the clear blue sky, the sun shining brilliantly on the western horizon to mark mid-afternoon. "We made it," he closed his eyes to look directly into the sun, enjoying the light the cave had so expertly hidden.

"We did!" Tael exclaimed. "And I saved you- twice!"

"Yep," Link said, nodding his head and turning to face him. "You did."

"Maybe I should hang around with you more often; whenever I'm with Tatl, she makes me feel pretty useless."

"You too?" Link said, smirking.

Tael returned his smile, but it faded when he saw Link look off sadly again, as if at the mention of the lost fairy. "I miss her, too," Tael said. "Trust me, we'll find her before it's too late."

"I hope so," Link said. "We only have the rest of today and tomorrow; then the moon falls, and..." He winced, as if afraid of even thinking about the possibility. "... and then I'd either have to abandon her by playing the Song of Time, or let all of Termina end."

"Well, by the looks of it, I'd say we have around forty hours left, so that should be plenty of time... right?"

"I don't know," Link admitted. "I don't even know where else to look. Whoever kidnapped her could be anywhere by now, and the cave was really the only place I had in mind."

"Do you really think they could have left Snowhead by now?"

"I'm not sure what this man... or creature... is capable of," Link explained.

"Okay, but if we left Snowhead now, which is the place he'll most likely still be, then we wouldn't have time to come back. So, we should probably stay here, for now."

"Doing what?"

"What was it you and Tatl came up here to do? Free the giant trapped here?"

"My priority right now is finding Tatl," Link said, bluntly. "The giants aren't going anywhere; they can wait."

"But my point is, we need to find places to go and search, while we're here," Tael began to explain. "And surely the giant is a good head start. It's a safe bet to say that somehow the monster who kidnapped her is tied up with all of this giant saving/evil mask stuff, so we'd be killing two birds with one stone, really. If we still haven't found her, then..." Tael trailed off. "Hopefully we'll have time to look elsewhere, but this is really our best bet."

Link took a moment to consider, turning over everything the fairy said in his head. Finally, he nodded, Link throwing the hood back up for the first time since he was last out of the cave, and beginning the trek back around the steep slope. "Let's head back to Goron Village then." Tael flew to be just beside him.

Link, as he walked towards the passageway that would snake around back to the top of the massive hill of snow, looked back at the towering peak within which the cave system was hidden. Ever since he'd first entered Termina, he'd wondered what laid beyond it; Tatl had warned him on more than one occasion that it was best to not think about such things. He remembered her flying into his arms in tears, when he'd finally given her reason enough to unlock the memories she'd repressed, just before she was kidnapped. Now he understood. There was nothing beyond Termina's borders, nothing but darkness.

He remembered reaching out to touch it, as his scar had egged him on to do so. He realized then that would have been the last thing he would have ever done.

* * *

"Finally," Tael remarked, as they made it to the top of the massive hill; behind them was the valley that lead to the last mountain, and before them lay the path onward. "As much of a pain as Majora's Mask has been, it was nice when the Skull Kid could finally fly; we didn't have to follow beside him anymore on the ground."

"Yeah. I bet that didn't last long," Link remarked grimly. Tael gulped at this reaction, deciding that that hadn't been the best joke to make. He turned to look with Link at what was left. It was all backtracking, Link recalling everything here. The slope went down until it ended at a giant cliff. A small, thin, icy ledge started up against the sheer ice wall encircling the gorge on the right, the same one Link had inched across much earlier in the day. It still inconveniently went out of the way to the right, before circling back to the left, rounding a sharp corner, and then finally making it to the other side.

"... How did you get across this earlier?" Tael inquired, as the two of them began to descend the hill towards the cliff.

"Very carefully," Link said. "I've always considered fairy wings a cheat; I've managed to find a way across almost every bottomless pit I've come across."

"I can see the bottom of this one, though," Tael pointed out, as they approached the ledge.

Link scoffed, shaking his head. "I remember Tatl saying something about your sense of humor. Or lack thereof." Link, as soon as he said that, smiled to himself, realizing exactly how much like Tatl he sounded. It had rubbed off on him.

"Hey!" Tael exclaimed. "That's not even cool. I can be funny... when we're not in the middle of a rescue mission."

"I'm sure," Link said, throwing him a smile to show he was joking, before staring at the icy ledge he was about to cross. He took in a deep breath, appreciating the ground under his feet for a moment longer.

"Are you sure you can do this?"

"Yes," Link said. "It'll just take me some time, so bare with me." He put his back up against the wall, and began to inch his way across. Tael nervously followed, constantly looking down at the rather large drop and then back at Link.

"I... don't think I could do that," Tael said, gulping. "I can hardly float above it, when I know I can't fall; without wings..."

"Please," Link said, stopping for a moment, and closing his eyes. "Just stop talking." Tael quickly shut his mouth, nodding his head swiftly and following along.

It took just as painstakingly long as before. He slowly made his way into the deep cut the pathway made, before it rounded back out onto the other side. Thirty minutes passed before Link was approaching the sharp edge that jutted out; the ledge wrapped around and went on a bit more before reaching the opposite side, but that was all garnered from his memory. The sharp point blocked everything on the other side from view.

"_We're alm_-"

"_Sh_," Link whispered back, interrupting him. On more than one occasion, the fairy had tried to speak in a whisper, but any talking risked breaking his concentration, which meant everything at the moment. Rather than getting bored and deciding to fly off on his own, Tael had been intent on the situation the entire time, unable to accept the fact that Link was actually physically and mentally capable of performing this task.

Then, Link made it to the tip of the corner, knowing that rounding it was the most difficult part of the journey. He looked at its sharp edge, Tael just behind him; Link took a deep breath and closed his eyes, moving his head to peer around the corner and look at the other side. His intention had been to examine the ledge, in order to decide how best to round the corner. Instead, something else that he hadn't expected to be there caught his attention, his eyes immediately going up to it.

It was the Skull Kid.

The masked imp was several feet off, safely over the ledge and levitating several feet into the air. He appeared to be looking around for something, or someone, his eyes having been looking at the cave on the opposite wall Link was, where he'd spent the previous night. Link instantly retracted himself around the corner, just as the Skull Kid's head shot in the direction he was, having noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

Link was suddenly in a panic, defenseless with his back up against the wall, his eyes wide with terror and his brow breaking out into a cold sweat. He knew the Skull Kid had seen something; he knew he was beginning to approach the spot where he was. He knew that as soon as the imp rounded the corner, he could only stand and watch as he was killed. He knew that he was no longer in the cave, and that this wasn't an illusion. The Lens of Truth would no longer make his enemies disappear.

Tael's expression grew worried when he saw Link's face, concerned. Link's hand slowly went to his belt, where his ocarina was; his hand wrapped around its smooth surface, but then he stopped himself. _No_. _I can't do that. Not without Tatl._

Tael opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, when Link instantly brought his finger to his lips. He mouthed clearly what he'd seen on the other side: "Skull Kid". Tael's face instantly froze too, and the two of them stared at one another for a moment longer. The fairy looked off then, as if considering something, and then gave Link a glance, as if to tell him something, before beginning to approach the corner. Link shook his head vigorously, but Tael took no notice.

The purple fairy very slowly rounded the corner to eventually see Majora's Mask. The Skull Kid had flown stealthily closer to the ground and towards the corner, having noticed something disappear around it, but not having seen what. He stopped, at the reappearance of Tael, his curiosity satisfied and his tense countenance relaxing.

"Hi... Skull Kid," Tael began, all of the things Link had said regarding his murderous nature replaying his head. Link, meanwhile, remained hidden behind the corner, eyes closed in wishful thinking as his head was tilted back up towards the sky. "Sorry, I... got a little scared when I first saw you. It's just that... I've been a little jumpy, lately, now that I'm coming back from the edge of Termina and all. You know, weird stuff always happens, and you see things. But, I know this is really you, so I'm not...," Tael gulped frightfully before continuing, "... scared anymore."

The Skull Kid did not say anything, merely remaining floating in place, the orange eyes of the mask unmoving as they bore across the space between them. Both were hovering over the giant chasm, the drop below hundreds of feet. Tael waited, hoping he would say something, the fairy's mind blind with panic, his own memory telling him he'd been companions with him only two days ago.

"... You weren't there when you said you'd meet me above the clock tower," Tael pointed out, gulping again when he realized that was probably not the right thing to say. "Are you... okay? I followed you up here to make sure you were; I don't... without Tatl... I... I was alone... and I didn't want to... be alone... so I... followed you... we're... friends... remember?"

The Skull Kid thrust out his left arm, which removed a large chunk of ice from the wall just beside him at a high velocity. It hurtled in Tael's direction with great speed; the fairy hardly had time to open his mouth before it slammed directly into him. The piece of ice, with the fairy on its bottom side, began to fall down into the chasm. About halfway through the descent, the fairy and ice separated, Tael unconscious and both objects landing hundreds of feet down below into the snow.

Link watched horrified from his position, not able to see anything until the chunk of ice and Tael had come hurtling around the corner and down towards the bottom of the cliff. He remained where he was, eyes closed, shaking and hoping the masked imp did not have another reason to round the corner. He pictured the verdant green hills of Hyrule... the beautiful, orange sun... the powerful, castle walls... Zelda's beautiful face... anything that would calm him just enough to prevent him from making any noise that would give himself away...

And so he waited... and waited...

Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes accumulated until he'd spent another ten just waiting in his spot. Link, eventually, decided that either the Skull Kid had left, or that this was some last game he'd wanted to play with him before killing him; the only thing he could do was either round the corner, freeze to death on the ledge, or play the Song of Time. But he wouldn't use his ocarina; not when there was still the slim possibility that Tatl could be saved otherwise. _For Tatl... and Tael..._

Link took a deep breath and peered around the edge. The Skull Kid was gone.

Link let out a sigh of relief, shaking his head and breathing in and out heavily, looking around to see no sign of the masked imp. Then, the entirety of the situation began to hit him; he turned to look where he knew Tael laid, far down below at the bottom of the hole, and knew that he very well could be dead.

"_No_," Link breathed, shaking his head. "_Not again... I'm... I'm coming, Tael_." Link began to round the corner, suddenly desperate to reach the fairy. He slipped, his lack of concentration almost costing him his life. Link stopped, taking a deep breath once more to calm himself, and then carefully rounding the corner again.

This time, he was successful, and the blonde-haired youth inched his way the last bit to the firm ground on the other side. Link, having finally crossed the chasm, peered over the edge to look down the length of the cliff, Tael not even visible at the bottom. Crossing it without the intention of climbing down had been a different story, but despite how difficult it would prove to be, he refused to leave Tatl's brother behind. Yelling to check on Tael was still far too risky, given that the Skull Kid could still be nearby, so Link reasoned there was only one thing left to do.

He reached into his bag and pulled out the two ice axes, gripping one in each hand. Link knelt down at the cliff's edge, driving one of them into the thick ice forcefully. Once the pick was firmly in place, he attempted to wiggle it back and forth, but it remained firm. Satisfied with this, he drove the second one in just beside it, and then gently lowered himself off of the edge, the handles of the ice axes now the only things from preventing his fall.

Link began his descent in this manner, always having only the handles to hang onto. He took the journey stretch by stretch, the ice axes always buried into the ice just long enough to allow him to progress a few more feet, before being removed and replaced once more. The sun had progressed an hour since he'd first began to inch his way along the icy edge.

His boots eventually hit snow, and Link removed the ice axes and placed them back into his bag, turning to see a faint purple light not far off. The bottom of the chasm was level and filled with a couple feet of snow, an opening on the far right leading off to more Snowhead territory; nothing else was there besides the two of them.

Link hurried over to where the fairy was, Tael still appearing unconscious and lying very still. His light had still not gone out. "_Tael?_" Link inquired softly, lifting the purple fairy into his palm and looking up, as if to make sure the Skull Kid had yet to fly overhead. There was no response. Link, after a moment's consideration, took from his bag the last of the health potion the goron had given him. He'd already drank most of what was left throughout his journey to the cave, but had some left over. Removing the cork, Link gave the rest to Tael, who showed the first signs of life by coughing as soon as it entered his throat; the fairy eventually swallowed it nonetheless, stirring slightly before remaining motionless once more.

Link, not having any desire to remain in the same place for much longer, slipped Tael carefully into his bag, before looking at the opening that lead to a new area. It appeared to be going in the same general direction the land above the chasm had been going, so Link decided it would in the best interest of time to go in this direction. And so he went, carefully peering for the Skull Kid around the corner before stepping out and walking onward.

* * *

Tael sat on top of the overturned log in the middle of Termina field; it was the same one he and Tatl had first met the Skull Kid underneath. The sun shone brightly down on his body, his stomach was full, and the purple fairy was overall quite content. He had his eyes closed, pleasantly fading in and out of a restful sleep. It wasn't until he heard the twinkling noise he knew marked the arrival of his sister that he opened his eyes and rose from off of the log.

"Tatl!" Tael exclaimed, the smile still wide on his face. It faded, however, when he saw the condition she was in. Tatl was shaking, from head to toe, her entire body trembling with fear. Her eyes were wide and frightful, the fairy's expression appearing gaunt and empty. "... Tatl? What happened?"

Tael then noted the Skull Kid approaching from just behind her. The dark mask was still adorning his face, the orange eyes still piercing all they looked at. The imp remained as motionless as he always seemed to be lately, that still, unnerving aura about him unsettling.

The white fairy, before responding, went to hug Tael tightly, who returned it, still confused. "_I followed the Skull Kid into the cave_," she said shakily. "_It was... so awful, Tael. I'm scared_." Tael wasn't sure what to say, looking up from Tatl's shoulder to see the masked imp still staring at them.

"It's time to go somewhere new," the Skull Kid said. "We need to leave soon."

"But, Skull Kid," Tael began, "I think Tatl needs rest. She seems pretty messed up."

"We don't have a very long window to do this," the imp explained, not breaking eye contact with Tael and ignoring Tatl's distressed state. "The friend who's given us this opportunity had to go through a lot to make this happen. We don't want to disappoint him and waste our chance."

"... Who are you talking about? What opportunity?" Tael inquired, eyebrow raised.

"We're going underneath the clock tower," the Skull Kid explained. "To a very special place. Something very valuable will be waiting for us there, and my friend wants to make sure I get it."

Tael turned away from the imp uncertainly, thinking over what he'd said. "Skull Kid... _please_. Tatl really needs rest."

The masked imp merely continued staring at him, not wavering in the slightest. The purple fairy almost opened his mouth to say something further when nothing was said, but the Skull Kid broke the silence. "Fine. But we leave at sunset." Then he flew off towards Clock Town, Tael letting go of Tatl and looking back at her empathetically.

"It'll be okay," Tael said, and then he turned to follow the Skull Kid, making sure Tatl was following from just behind.

* * *

Tael opened his eyes lightly, his head still swimming as he lifted it off of the material he was sleeping on. The purple fairy took a moment to take in his surroundings to realize he was inside of Link's bag; two bottles, both of which were empty, were just surrounding him, as well as the other array of items he possessed. Tael took a moment to recuperate, realizing that Link was not moving, the bag resting on the ground. The purple fairy, once he was prepared, flew out into the open.

They were in a small alcove in the side of a sheer, icy, rock wall. Link sat up against the far end of the wall chewing on stale bread. A third bottle lay just beside him, only a small amount of water remaining in it. "Tael!" Link said, as soon as he saw him leave the bag. The bag had been laying next to him; outside of the small alcove, the frozen landscape stretched on, the sky still hardly dotted with clouds and the sun shining.

"What happened?" Tael inquired, as he took in his surroundings. "The last thing I remember was... the Skull Kid casting some sort of spell. He didn't kill me?"

"I'm pretty sure he meant to," Link explained, swallowing the mouth full of bread he had as Tael went to lie down on top of the bag next to him, still feeling weak. "If I hadn't have been there to climb down and feed you the potion, you wouldn't have been alive much longer." Tael looked off grimly at this statement, as if not quite able to absorb the fact that he'd almost been killed. "Thank you for going to talk to him like that; that was really brave. You saved both of our lives by doing that. He left as soon as he... struck you."

"I didn't actually think he would do it," Tael confessed, the situation still hard to swallow. "It was one thing for you to talk about how evil the Skull Kid had become, but I've known him... and been friends with him... for such a long time. It's hard to believe, that he's capable... I honestly thought I would be able to walk out and talk to him."

Link wasn't sure if there was anything consoling to say, not sure if he would have believed himself, had the roles been reversed. "Some of the Skull Kid might still be in there; it's the mask."

"Some of the Skull Kid?" Tael inquired.

Link thoughts instantly turned to the mark on his chest; the way in which the darkness seemed to be growing in him appeared to be a perfect analogy. He wondered if he was on the same slippery slope the imp had found himself on, but quickly dismissed the idea. "It's a dark mask," Link explained. "The witch's in the swamp told Tatl and I about all the terrible things it had done in its heyday. The witches' ancestors sealed it away and thought they'd gotten rid of it for good, but now... it's back. Some how it broke the seal. It tried to corrupt everything and everyone, intent on destroying all life."

"Whoa...," Tael said, his head spinning with such a revelation. "I knew there was something off about that mask, the moment I first saw it..."

"You, Tatl, and Tael stole it from the mask salesman, right?" Link inquired.

"Well...," Tael began, "Tatl and I didn't take part in the stealing; we kept trying to talk him out of it. We were flying around the forest near the swamp, when we saw him walking by, and his large backpack caught the Skull Kid's eye. The trap Skull Kid set knocked him out cold, and the Skull Kid just rummaged through his stuff afterward like it was nothing..."

Tael stared off, the memory clearly not one he was fond of.

"How long until he started changing?" Link asked, his mind going to his scar. "Before he started acting... different?"

"I'm not sure," Tael said, beginning to ponder the matter. "He had the mask for an awfully long time playing pranks on people, but there was a steady change in him. I didn't think anything was _really_ wrong until Tatl came back from the mountains with the Skull Kid. She..."

"Went into the cave?" Link inquired, finishing his statement when he didn't.

"Yeah," Tael confirmed. "That was actually the day before we ambushed you." A moment of silence prevailed after this, Link and Tael each with their own thoughts, before the purple fairy broke it. "I'm actually really surprised she told you that. My sister's never been one to open up to anyone. She rarely has said two words about anything on her mind to _me_."

"She took a really long time to," Link explained, after processing what it was the fairy had said. "The day she was taken, actually, was the day she told me about that. She's still pretty reserved about a lot of other things, though. Any time I try to mention her past, she won't tell me anything, except that it's been you and her, as long as she can remember."

The moment of silence that prevailed after this was characterized by Tael staring off, before he finally spoke. "Our entire family was eaten by a pack of wolfos." Link, not having expected this, looked over at the purple fairy with downcast eyes. "I was too young to remember any of it, but I still hear those... _howls_... in my sleep sometimes. It's really no small wonder she never wants to bring it up; I'm pretty sure she's blocked it out."

Link looked away sadly, his mind going back to all the times he'd tried to press for answers from his companion. "I had no idea."

"It's not your fault," Tael immediately said. "You didn't know."

Their talking ended once more, the two merely occupied by their own minds, before Link finally stood up. "Will you be able to fly, or do you want to get back in my bag? I think we should start moving again."

"I'll be fine," Tael said, flying off of the bag and wincing once, before his wings were once again keeping him in the air.

Link nodded his head, throwing the bag around his shoulder. "Thanks, Tael." The purple fiary turned to face him, before flying out of the alcove. "I'm sorry if I asked about anything too personal; I'm just... trying to piece everything that's happening here together."

"Don't worry about it," Tael said, giving him a small smile. "It's fine."

And then they set off, leaving their temporary resting place behind.

* * *

The Skull Kid's feet glided just above the snowy ground. His eyes scanned the landscape intently as he flew, searching eagerly, desperately. The clouds had begun to collect as they had earlier in the day, and the imp saw in them the first signs of another blizzard forming. Soon, visibility would be dangerously low again, and then there would be no hope of finding anything. The second night was almost here, and he knew that on the final night, the boy would play the song again, and start everything over. He would appear right in front of the clock tower.

_Do I dare go back to try and fight him again?_

_**Confrontation with him is inevitable**_.

_But he absorbed our magic, and shot it back. What if he has more power than even that?_

_**He must be defeated.**_

_But he almost killed us..._

Then, a figure came into view. The Skull Kid stopped mid-flight to examine it, and then began to approach the far off shape. The masked imp stopped several feet into the air and in front of the silhouette standing in the snow. It wore a black robe, with the hood thrown over its face, its head face down, black gloves adorning its hands.

"I've been looking for you," the creature replied in a commanding voice, not lifting his head to address the Skull Kid, or even acknowledging that he was there. The imp merely remained in place, staring down at the creature below him. "We are still friends, aren't we?" The Skull Kid still did nothing to respond, the orange eyes of the mask unable to pierce through its target as they usually could.

The creature lifted its head, to reveal the decayed, ReDead face, making direct eye contact with Majora's Mask. The masked imp remained still, not being effected by the power its eyes held in the slightest. "I have something for you," the creature spoke, its mouth not moving even as it spoke.

The creature reached into its robes with one gloved hand and pulled out a bottle. Inside was something bright: a white ball of light. The fairy was trapped inside of the bottle still, the cork tightly in place and Tatl staring fearfully at what was going on around her from within the glass container.

"Don't let him find her," the creature explained, not looking down at the fairy, but keeping its eyes on the Skull Kid. "But you can't kill her either. If she dies by anything other than the boy consciously making the decision to leave her behind, then we've lost everything."

The masked imp still said nothing. The creature's facial expressions did not change whatsoever, but it bent down and rolled the bottle towards the Skull Kid in the snow nonetheless. "I'm counting on you."

And the creature with the hood turned around, walking away from the imp and Tatl without another word. The Skull Kid watched as it left; after a few steps, the creature vanished, leaving behind nothing but the footprints in the snow it had made.

The masked imp remained floating there in the light snow for a moment longer, looking where the creature had disappeared. Then the Skull Kid looked down at the bottled fairy, who was backed away from him into the farthest corner of the bottle. The imp smiled widely from behind the mask at this, going down to land in the snow.

He picked the bottle up with both hands, peering down intently at the shaking fairy within.

* * *

Link and Tael trudged onward through the snow, the icy mountain wall on the right continuing to follow them, towering from high above. They'd been walking for quite a while, and Link reasoned that the Goron village must be somewhere nearby. Snow had begun to fall again, and he knew it wouldn't be long before the sky was once again blotted out and a blizzard had begun.

"I think we're almost there," Tael commented.

"My thoughts exactly," Link said, but he stopped, when a chill suddenly ran through him. It happened within him, his bones tingling, it differing from the cold of the snow; it reminded Link of the cave. He stopped in his footsteps, eyes wide, the chill gone.

Tael turned around to look at him in confusion. "What happened?"

Link took a moment to respond, turning around to see if he'd missed anything. "I don't really know..." His eye, however, did catch something: a shadow, on the ground. It was in a large humanoid shape... but there was nothing standing in a position capable of casting such a shadow. Link remained staring at the shadow for a moment longer, mouth agape, and when Tael flew up to inquire, he pointed his finger so Tael could see it too. The boy and purple fairy beheld the mysterious shadow for a moment longer, before Link had any idea.

He grasped the handle of the Lens of Truth in his hand and held it over his eye.

What he found was a ghastly pale, transparent image of a goron. The goron had large, muscular arms, his hair white long and spiky, his face lined with age and battle. Tattoos adorned both of his arms, and a thick pair of gloves covered his hands; a large necklace of beads wrapped around his neck. His stomach was large and soft, and his back was hardened with sharp rock, a physical characteristic all healthy gorons shared. He was floating just above the ground, his feet barely missing it. A large, deep gash went directly across his stomach, it appearing fatal; the goron's face was contorted into that of extreme determination. His dark black eyes happened to be making direct contact with Link, as soon as he'd made it appear.

Link gasped, taking a step backwards and bringing the lens back down to his side. The ghost disappeared, but the shadow still remained there. "What?!" Tael inquired, flying to be beside Link's head to get a look himself. Link, at first hesitant to do so, raised the Lens of Truth once more, and they both peered in this time.

The goron ghost was still there, still staring at the boy and not breaking eye contact. His expression softened, however, when he seemed to notice Link in a different way for the first time. The goron floated back a few feet, turning his thick neck away before looking back at Link.

"... Can it be?" the goron replied, his voice deep and powerful. Link remained standing there, the lens over his eyes. "Are you able to see me?" Link slowly nodded his head. The goron looked off in a distant direction at that moment, as if eager to be somewhere. "If you truly can see me, then follow behind me..." The ghost then flew off passed Link, in the direction he and Tael had already been heading.

Link spun around, lowering the Lens of Truth to see the shadow progressing forward, even though the mysterious goron had vanished. "...That was weird," Tael commented, as they watched the shadow go. It stopped soon, though, Link assuming he had done so because he knew they weren't following.

"Maybe we should follow it."

"... Follow it?" Tael inquired. "It's probably just another trick; why should we trust the ghost of a random goron?"  
"I have my sword and ocarina; we'll be fine," Link assured the purple fairy, realizing this fairy wasn't the one who had heard that cop out a million times. "I think this is the type of thing we were hoping for, nosing around Snowhead." The boy began following the shadow, Tael sighing before following behind him. Link smiled to himself when he thought about how difficult it would have been to convince Tatl.

The two followed the shadow for not long at all before they came upon something new. A small moat surrounded a portion of the mountain wall beside them, with rather large, platform-sized chunks of ice floating in it. Crossing the moat lead to a small platform of snow covered land at the base of the wall of ice. The wall went up until it reached a cliff; the top of the cliff was hidden from view, however. Link also noted a doorway just beside the moat; it was inaccessible, though, hard-packed with snow as if some avalanche had made it impossible to use ever again.

Link applied the Lens of Truth once he saw the shadow getting smaller; the ghost of the goron had begun to fly the length of the ice wall up towards the cliff, disappearing over the ledge up above. The Lens of Truth also revealed a set of metal bars that could be used as a ladder, to climb the ice wall and make it to the cliff, once the moat was crossed.

Once he lowered the purple handle, the bars disappeared, Link still looking at the edge of the cliff the ghost had disappeared over.

"... Should we follow it?" Tael asked.

"Yes," Link answered. "I bet there's something up there worth finding."

"Well, just don't fall in the water," the purple fairy advised, peering into the cool, clear surface acting as a barrier. "It's probably very cold."

"I won't," Link said, walking up to the bank of the water. It wasn't very deep, but in this weather, he imagined hypothermia was not out of the question. Link took several steps backward, before leaping over the water's edge and landing on one of the floating platforms of ice. His boots slipped on its surface, Link losing balance as his feet went out from under him. Link landed painfully, quickly scrambling back to his feet and causing the chunk of ice to rock back and forth dangerously.

"Whoa, be careful!" Tael exclaimed, flying up to join the boy.

Link nodded, waiting for the ice to drift by another nearby piece before jumping once more. This landing was executed much more expertly, and the next jump had him on the platform of snow just in front of the invisible metal ladder.

Link went up to the mountain wall and began to fell around its surface, until his hand found the hidden metal bar he was looking for. He smiled, putting his feet on that one and reaching out for a higher one, knowing he could not use the Lens of Truth and climb at the same time. Tael gasped in shock at first, watching Link apparently scale the wall without touching it, a few inches off of its surface but yet gliding across to the top.

"... How the-?!" Tael began, stopping himself when Link turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Oh... right. That purple thing."

Soon, Link hands grasped the top of the ledge, and he pulled himself up and over it, Tael flying up to be by his side. What they found up there were two doorways; one was directly ahead and capable of being entered, while the one on the right was filled with snow, like the one on the bottom, and incapable of being used. Two gorons were also up here, both alive and in the flesh and rock. One had both hands gripping his shoulders tightly as he shook madly from the cold; the other was frozen into a block ice, appearing to have been in a similar condition to the goron beside him not long ago.

Link found the shadow on the ground just in front of the open doorway, and then it flew inside, as if beckoning him to follow. The two other gorons were just beside this doorway themselves, the one that wasn't frozen turning to look at Link and the fairy.

"... Hello?" Link inquired, taking a step away from the edge towards them. The platform where all of this was held was small, and the mountain wall behind it continued climbing forever upward. "Are you... okay?" Link stopped just in front of the goron, whose sad, dark black eyes he found hard to meet. His mad shivering did not stop, even as he shook his head to answer, 'no'. "Why are you up here?"

"... This is the grave where a goron hero rests," the shivering goron explained. Link and Tael's mind instantly went to the ghost they'd just passed. "I came here to put up the great hero's memorial... But the return route has been blocked by snow, and I can't get back to Goron Village." Link's eyes went to the frozen goron just beside him, and the still moving one seemed to follow his gaze. "And even worse, my brother has been frozen solid from the cold. The way things are looking, I'll be frozen, too."

"We can find a way to get you down," Link suggested, looking at the doorway blocked by snow on the right. "Is that the return route?" The shivering goron nodded slightly, not wanting to release anymore heat than he had to. "You don't think we could tunnel through it?"

"No! Don't you think we would have already tried that?" The goron sighed after this, looking after the doorway the shadow had just disappeared into then. "Ohhhh... It's times like this that make me wish I had taken some of the hot spring water I found when I was digging the hero's grave. But the hot spring is now covered by the gravestone. I can't move a gravestone that big by myself. But I guess this is what's meant by the Goron saying, 'There's no use in crying over split rocks.'"

"We could try," Link said.

"Good luck," the shivering goron replied. "If one of us mighty mountain dwellers can't, a little human like you probably won't have much luck." Link, looking sadly at the poor goron, glanced down to see that his feet were frozen solid in place.

"Don't worry," Link assured him. "We'll find a way to get you out of here."

"I certainly hope so," the goron said, sealing his eyes shut and turning away from the boy.

Link exchanged a glance with Tael, and then the two of them walked into the goron hero's grave.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Steph, Chapter 1: Aw, thank you very much! I'm glad you like it so much. I am also looking forward to getting to Ikana Canyon!

Some blue hedgeh: Yes, and it is my intention to answer those questions, in my best interpretation of them. And I certainly hope to finish as well; I don't see myself quitting at any point before it's done.


	30. Darmani

Note: Well, I finally have the next chapter, the later half of it written and edited today! The Snowhead story line really starts finally picking up here.

* * *

_Chapter 30: Darmani_

Link and Tael found a rather large cave. It was filled with brown, hard-packed rock to contrast with the white of the cave walls and ceiling. Triangular-prism shaped purple monuments pointed high into the air, all with drawings neither the boy or fairy could comprehend. A light shone down from a hole in the cave brilliantly onto the very center, at which a massive tombstone was; the sunlight illuminated the cavern in its entirety. The tombstone and immediate area surrounding it were in a small basin, the light and centric position making the grave to appear to be the focus of the room.

Link lowered his hood as he stepped in, eventually venturing forward to approach the spotlight. Piecing together what the gorons outside had said, what was there just before, and his encounter with the ghost, it was clear that the entity that had visited him was a renowned goron hero, and this was his shrine. The last thing left to find out was why the ghost had brought him to his resting place.

Soon, he was directly in front of the tombstone, it being twice as tall as him and rather wide. A small shadow was visible hovering in front of it, even though no object could be seen in existence to cast it. Written on the tombstone was an inscription honoring Darmani, hero of gorons, making it clear that this goron had been beloved by many.

"I've never met an actual ghost before; I didn't even think they were real," Tael explained. "What if this is just a trick?"

Link turned to the purple fairy. "The Lens of Truth never lies, and besides... he's right in front of us." Tael's face froze, looking at the foot of the tombstone to notice the shadow, and deciding to refrain from talking about it further. Link removed the lens from his bag and placed it over his eye.

There, the ghostly figure reappeared, standing in front of his grave. His hard, pale face was still the same, the dark black eyes baring down on him; Link's eyes shot to the gash across his stomach before turning once more to make eye contact with the goron hero before him.

"The soaring one said the one who could see me would be arriving soon," the ghost began, beginning immediately. His expression relayed that what he was saying was of the utmost importance, and the boy listened intently. "It seems that it turned out to be true. I am Darmani the Third. The blood of proud Goron heroes runs in me."  
"I'm Link," he replied. He felt stupid having to hold the lens over his eyes and for not immediately having an impressive title. "... the Hero of Time. I'm sworn brothers with the fire sage Darunia, a goron hero that leads the Hylian goron tribe on Death Mountain."

The ghost's, Darmani's, face flashed with confusion, but vanished quickly back into its stern gaze. "I have not heard of this land, or this hero, but any friend of gorons is a friend of mine."

"... I didn't think you would," Link replied, hiding his disappointment. "Darunia was a great goron, though. He was a renowned warrior and veteran."

"This feels strange for me to say, but when I was alive, I was a renowned warrior and veteran. Yes..." Darmani's gaze softened at this, his gaze shifting away as he drifted off. "When I was alive..." Then he lifted his ghostly hand over his eyes and looked down sadly. "But alas... I am now dead." Link looked empatheticly at the deceased creature, as it straightened itself back up to meet Link's eyes and tell its story.

"I was fine until I marched off to Snowhead by myself, hoping that I could drive off a demon. It had been wrecking havoc on Goron Village... Then the blizzard at Snowhead blew me into the valley. And now... Here I am... How infuriating! As I am, I can only watch as Goron Village is slowly buried in ice... I may have died, but I cannot rest. The demon's curse binds me to the land while it is my sworn duty to protect it..." Darmani looked off once again, Link not having it realized it was possible for such a powerful being to appear so faint, and lost.

Then, the goron's face turned sharply to Link's, his eyes shining with hope, a vulnerability to his character Link was still shocked to find. "So, you can use magic? The soaring one also told me that you were able to use it." Link, realizing where this was going, felt his stomach lurch when he understood where this was going.

"I...," Link began, putting one booted foot a step behind him uncertainly, glancing downward through the lens before turning back to the ghost. Tael observed the conversation from a distance, positioned to peer through the purple instrument as well. "I don't know who you mean by the 'soaring one', but I'm not a sorcerer. I don't know any magic... especially when it comes to the dead." The goron's eyes did not waver, bearing into him and ripping through the weak defense that was his uncertainty. "I've lost people I loved more than once, and have never been able to bring them back. I don't think that's something anyone can do."

"You called yourself the hero of time, did you not?" Darmani suddenly replied. "In what way did you save time? A man does not earn himself a title like that without magic."

"It wasn't magic," Link said, in defense. "It was the goddess of time."

"Is there a difference? If the gods do not use magic to see their will done, than what do they use? My goddess of time is not the same as yours, yet each of ours oversee the same thing, regardless of the different names we give it." Link didn't have a response to this, still processing what he'd said before the goron hero spoke next. "You some how used time as a weapon to help you become a hero. Now, please, use it to reverse what has been done."

"... I... I can't," Link said. "It doesn't work that way. I don't control how I change time..."

"I beg you!" Darmani suddenly pleaded, leaning forward closer and gesturing with his hands, his sternness giving way to complete vulnerability. "Bring me back to life your magic!" He watched Link fail to grasp for words, and closed his eyes painfully and spared him finding another excuse. "If it is beyond your power, then I beg of you to do this for me instead... Heal my sorrows. Any way that you can do it will suffice."

Link looked sadly at the creature. In his prime, the boy could imagine what a stoic, proud hero this goron had been. Now, he'd been reduced to nothing. By some trick of dark magic, he wasn't allowed to move on, his being tethered to the promise he'd made to protect his land. But he could do nothing to save it; he was merely someone forced to watch as his people died, because of his inability to save them. There was nothing left that he could do. He was broken, and had no where left to turn.

"Please...," Darmani began once more, watching Link as he looked off once more. "Heal my sorrows..."

Link looked down from the lens to his belt, putting his hand over the pocket where he knew his ocarina was. It was the only magic he'd ever been capable of, and even then, he wasn't entirely sure how he used it, uncertain as to whether or not it was something channeled from him or just in the clay itself. His mind reeled back to all that it had done, the Ocarina of Time, and wondered if there was a way he could possible help Darmani. It had sent him seven years to the future, and could bring him three days to the past, but how could that help in this situation? If he played the Song of Time, and he willed it to effect the goron rather than himself, would it work? Or would he find himself in front of the clock tower doors? That was something he was unwilling to risk, and began to filter through his past with the ocarina even more intently; there had to be something he had missed. The phrase 'heal my sorrows' rung a bell in his head that he couldn't quite crystallize...

The Deku mask. Suddenly, Link remembered that his ocarina had proven its ability to do more than manipulate time and summon temples. It had freed the deceased spirit that had been infused with Link, the butler's son that had died and been unable to move on, by some dark magic of the Skull Kid...

He looked back up through the lens, and wondered if he was looking at the same exact thing, except this time a goron, and unfused, cursed to instead roam aimlessly for eternity...

Link looked at him directly in the eyes, as if relaying to him what was about to happen. The image of Darmani, staring back at him hopelessly, was forever engraved into his brain. The ghost was gone, and the purple instrument was slipped back into his bag, as he raised the ocarina to his mouth. Tael watched behind with interest.

Link closed his eyes as he blew into the clay instrument, finding the right pitch after a few trials. As soon as that note was hit, his mind went back to the song he'd learned under the clock tower, the day the mask salesman had taught it to him at the piano, as if it hadn't been a lifetime since he'd learned it. The Song of Healing came back to him immediately, his fingers and air flawlessly executing the beautiful melody.

Darmani watched the boy with interest, his eyes filled with a deep sadness that didn't look at Link with interest as much as they did with helplessness. Link's eyes were closed, concentrating on playing the ocarina, the goron now invisible to both the boy and fairy. However, Darmani's mind soon found itself falling into the melody, incapable of staying rooted to what was happening. His head nodded, slightly, and there was only a slight resistance in his head, that was short lived.

_What's happening?_ He fought it only for a moment, the goron's eyes lifting to find the ocarina once more, as his head continued to fall into sleep. The melody. He closed his eyes willingly then, allowing the bliss to overtake him. The world around him faded to black, and Darmani allowed it to slip through his fingers. "_For the Goron village_...," Darmani whispered into his last breath, "_I have asked your assistance..._"

He was in a blank, dark space, the notes of the song echoing throughout the limitless corridor. He looked back and forth, frantically, wondering where he was, suddenly not remembering anything. Until he saw a goron. A familiar face, the brown, large creature was smiling brightly at him, beside yet another, and another. He was surrounded by the people of his village, all smiling broadly, mouths expressing the highest from of jubilation. They rose their fists into the air, cheering loudly in celebration.

Darmani found himself surrounded by his village, the many gorons shouting his name happily. He'd saved them, and they were championing their goron hero. The curse had fallen, and the sun was once again shining warmly down on the village. He looked back and forth, in awe at first, but then a smile curled into his lips, as his heart rose into his chest.

This was the happiest he'd ever felt in his life. He'd saved his people, and here they were to celebrate. The extreme happiness did not fade as the first tears trickled down his face, rolling down to go around his smile. He closed his eyes, as he felt the warmth of the sun on his skin.

_I'm done_, he thought to himself, as he felt the tears falling and allowed the ecstasy of the crowd to ring in his ears. It was done; he'd never felt more at peace with himself. He thought that he would never forget this moment, for as long as he lived, as the light from the sun enveloped him. He allowed it to come, the light brilliant and freeing. _The darkness is gone._

* * *

Tael found himself lost in the melody as Link continued to play, his mind swimming in deep thought as the ocarina sang. He was only snapped out of it when he saw something that hadn't been there before, his mind springing back to reality.

"Link...," the purple fairy said.

The boy, who had also found himself falling away into the Song of Healing, stopped playing and opened his eyes at Tael's words. Suddenly, the allure of the melody was gone, and he found himself face to face with Darmani. Except, it was just a face, levitating in the exact spot where the ghost's had been. The face was full of the color a healthy goron would have, all of the ghostly white tint gone. It merely hovered there, its black eyes staring at his blue.

Then, the face, it hollow and with nothing behind it, fell, falling to the cave floor and clanking, its wooden mass echoing throughout the mountain graveyard. Link and the fairy stared down at it for a moment longer, each taking in exactly what had just happened.

Darmani had been transformed into a mask, a frozen image of his face: the Goron mask.

"He... turned into a mask," Tael pointed out, dumbfounded as he stared at where the ghost had been.

"That's how I turned back into a human," Link explained.

"What?" the purple fairy asked, turning towards him and not understanding.

Link reached into his bag and pulled out the Deku mask, showing it to Tael. "This, is the curse the Skull Kid put on me. I can turn back into a Deku scrub whenever I put it on."

Tael looked at it curiously, and then back at the Goron mask. "You don't think...?"

Link put the first mask back into his bag. "There's only one way to find out."

He bent down and lifted the Goron mask into his hands, holding in front of his face and staring down into its eyes, as the purple fairy watched with eyebrows raised. Link wondered where Darmani had gone, wondered where the Deku scrub had gone, … and he wondered if Zelda had gone to the same place. He pushed these thoughts from his mind, however, as Link turned the mask around and put it over his face.

His eyes widened in shock when he remembered the excruciating process he'd undergone when putting the Deku mask on for the first time. But it was too late; before he could remove it, the mask came alive just as the last one had. It grabbed his face, and began to sink into his own, as if destroying it, muffling his screams.

Tael's eyes grew into that of horror. "Link!" he shrieked, flying down closer to him but unsure of what to do.

Link continued grasping in vainly at his face, as he collapsed to the floor, flinging his bag off of his shoulders and throwing it several feet away, along with his sword and scabbard. He felt the opposite effect that had occurred when he'd been turning into a small swamp creature. He felt his skeleton enlarging and saw his skin darkening, as his back hardened and curved. His stomach swelled, ripping through his tunic and coat, as his body continued to expand. Tael began to back away, his eyes widening even further in disbelief at what was happening.

After what seemed like forever for the two of them, but in actuality had only lasted a few seconds, Link found himself huddled together in his own body for safety. Link, at first confused, opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness, allowing his sensory information to tell him he was curled into some sort of ball. Despite the fact that he was in this position, Link knew the entire lay out of the room; some sort of new sense was allowing this information to come to him, the vibrations of the earth painting a picture in his head as clear as it would be if he were using his eyes. Sitting there in bewilderment for only a moment, Link realized what had happened.

Tael shivered frightfully just beside where Link had been. In his place was now a goron, huddled together in the ball he knew there were capable of making, his soft underbelly and face hidden, only his hardened back facing the world. Surrounding the goron were the tattered remains of Link's tunic and coat; Tael remained where he was, unsure if the creature in front of him was still his sister's friend.

Then, the goron rose out of his ball, getting to his feet and standing in the exact place Link had, his black eyes finding Tael's. Suddenly, Darmani was standing in front of him.

"... Link?" the fairy inquired. Darmani looked the exact same as the ghost had, except brown and lively. The massive gouge in his large stomach, however, had all but vanished. Link's green hat now adorned his spiky white hair, his thick white sideburns also remaining; the winter pants the blacksmith had let him borrow had always been slightly baggy, and now they fit much nicer with Darmani's body, a goron's legs always disproportionately smaller than its torso.

"Yes?" Link responded, his voice much deeper and louder than it usually was.

"Is that... really you?"

Link looked down and began to examine his new body. It was far heavier than the body he was used to inhabiting, and Link's first step was more of a stumble, it awkward. His feet had expanded out of his boots, his hat and pants the only articles of clothing remaining. He felt the hard, jagged rocks lining his back, contrasting starkly with the soft balloon that was his belly. Link decided it would take a while to get used to his body, examining his arms to find that, on his muscular right one, was a dark tattoo, it symbolic of his goron family.

"I... think so," Link said, taking his first steps forward and deciding his upper half was not nearly as proportional to his lower as it was in his human form.

"So, are you stuck that way forever now?" Tael asked.

Link almost shook his head, but then stopped when he realized he wasn't entirely sure of the answer. He, upon the purple fairy's question, grabbed his face where the mask should be, willing himself to remove it. Sure enough, the goron mask was in his hands, and his human form had returned, his coat and tunic once again unharmed and dressing him. He felt instantly at ease, now in his human body, smiling as he looked down at the goron mask.

"I can't believe it," Tael said, his face still stunned.

"Well, it's real," Link replied, walking to his scabbard, sword, shield, and bag, to reapply them to his human body, now knowing they were safe from being destroyed in the next transformation. "I guess the song the mask salesman taught me can do more than just heal me."

"But you're still alive," Tael pointed out, after a moment's thought.

"... Yeah?" Link inquired, raising an eyebrow as he readorned himself. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"That goron guy is gone now, isn't he? He's dead," Tael pointed out. "Why didn't the song kill you when you were a Deku scrub?"

Link's face slowly melted into concern after the fairy said this. "Darmani was already dead," Link explained. "And so was the Deku scrub ghost the Skull Kid infused me with. I didn't kill anyone."

"It's just... scary, isn't it?" Tael inquired, as he looked at the goron's mask. "That salesman's bag was full of masks." Link's mind went back to the massive backpack that always caused the salesman to be slouched over.

"That's... there's no way..." Link stopped, however, when his mind suddenly jumped to a conclusion. "The mask salesman!"

"... What about him?" Tael inquired.

"He's the answer to finding Tatl!" Link exclaimed, his face beaming, his blue eyes eagerly looking at Tael's. When he saw he didn't understand, the boy elaborated. "Some how, he knew that I'd gone back in time when Tatl and I visited him again, and he knew about me and Hyrule... he knows everything. So he has to know where Tatl is!"

"How could he possibly know?' Tael asked.

"I don't know, but he's the only person we can turn to."

The purple fairy shook his head, sighing as he flew closer to Link. "I don't trust him. Even if he did know everything, I wouldn't trust him. There's something off about him."

"He healed me from my Deku scrub curse," Link pointed out. "And hasn't done anything but help me so far."

"I'm just saying," Tael explained, "he scares me, and I wouldn't go near him if I were you."

"... Tatl felt the same way about him," Link said, looking off and smiling faintly at her memory, before turning back to her brother. "If we haven't found Tatl or the ReDead thing by the time we've saved the second giant, we'll be going to the clock tower next. The mask salesman can be our backup plan."

"Okay," Tael said. "Hopefully, we won't have to do that." Link looked around the cave after this, eying the tombstone under which he knew Darmani was buried. "Where to next?"

"Darmani asked me to help Goron Village," Link said. "If we're lucky, helping the village will help the next giant."

"So... are we going there now?"

"Yes, but I don't think I'm going to be the one going back to the village," Link replied. Tael turned to him, confused, until he saw the goron mask in his hands. "I think they'd rather have their hero back."

Link placed the mask over face, and in an instant, his shirt, bag, sword, shield, and human body vanished. He was, once again, Darmani the Third, the proud blood of goron heroes running in his veins.

He went to leave the cave, when the purple fairy called out his name to stop him. "... What about the hot spring water?" Link stopped, his massive body's momentum almost causing him to fall over. Turning his head, he saw Tael motioning towards the gravestone. "That goron outside said there was some underneath, and they could both probably use some."

Link, upon a moment's reflection, walked back over to Darmani's gravestone. Grasping it in both hands from behind, he found it sliding easily out of place, his thick arms able to accomplish the task his human form couldn't. He smiled as the hot spring water began to gush forth from underneath.

* * *

He stood there shivering, his arms folded across his chest as the snow continued to thicken. His companion remained frozen in a solid block of ice beside him, and he could only stare out into the gray sheet pummeling down from the sky. Sensation in his body had been beginning to dull for quite a while now, his mind not capable of focusing on anything for very long. And so, it was for this reason that he forgot about the boy who had entered the cave, until he heard someone coming from behind him.

The shivering goron turned around to see someone standing in the entrance to the tomb, merely looking at him with dark black eyes, a purple fairy accompanying him. The goron could only return this concerned look with a blank stare for several seconds, it taking a moment before it dawned on him. It was Darmani.

The goron's eyes widened when he began to realize this, his mouth opening as he continued to shake madly. "You're... No! No, you're not the great Darmani, are you?" He looked confused, as if not able to tell if he was hallucinating.

Darmani nodded his head, taking another step further out of the cave. The other goron still remained stunned, as if unable to take it in; his eyes began to examine the goron hero skeptically, noticing that the scare on his stomach was missing, and that a green hat now adorned his head.

"Did you come back to life because it was so warm beneath your grave?" the goron asked.

"No," Darmani answered, stepping now to be directly across from the goron. "The magic of goron heroes runs through my veins, and would not let me rest until I'd saved my village."

"But... you were dead..." the goron said, turning away and staring off. Before the hero could speak again, he turned back. "Where's that boy that was in there?"

"He... left...," Darmani stammered, the other goron hardly noticing his uncertainty.

"But this is the only way out... I didn't see him...," the goron looked off into the distance, as if squinting to see the boy running off in the distance.

"That's not important," Darmani said, holding out his hand to reveal a bottle full of hot spring water. "What is in important is that I've moved the tombstone, and you two can go back inside and get warm."

He uncorked the bottle and poured it over the goron frozen solid. The warm water instantly cut through the ice, it melting away and the second goron opening his eyes and beginning to shake even more madly than the first, once the ice had all fallen off.

He blinked heavily, rubbing his shoulders furiously as he turned to face his friend standing beside him. "Hunh? What have I been doing?"

"Oh!" the first goron explained, a smile reaching his face as his companion awakened from his icy slumber. "Are you all right, brother? You were frozen, but the great Darmani saved you!"

"The great Darmani?!" the second goron inquired. "What's with you? Are you half asleep?" He shook his head, turning away from his companion to look at the goron hero that had unfrozen him. "Did you hear this guy? The great Darmani died long ago and is lying his gr..." The second goron, however, suddenly stopped short; he'd been making eye contact with Darmani throughout the entire conversation, but just then seemed to realize who it was that was standing before him. "Heeee! Darmani!" Darmani smiled and nodded his head, backing away from the goron he'd thawed out and corking the now empty bottle.

"I was shocked, too," the first goron added, nodding his head when he saw his brother's shock. "But somehow, it seems the great Darmani isn't dead."

"R-really?" the second goron asked again, not able to pry his eyes away from the goron hero he'd carried to his grave. He was having trouble dealing with the double shock of having just awaken from days spent in a block of ice, to a dead goron now resurrected and standing before him.

"With this, a star of hope appears in Goron Village," the first goron said, still shaking from the cold but now smiling at Darmani. "Great Darmani! Please do something about the blizzard blowing in from Snowhead!"

"That's where I'm going next," Darmani assured them, turning to look at the passageway, the only way for gorons to make it down from the cliff. It was still completely blocked with ice and snow; it would probably take hours for them to dig through all of it. The goron hero then turned to look at the edge of the cliff, his brow furrowed in confusion; the two gorons shivering watched intently.

"You two should go inside and rest in the hot spring water while I'm gone," Darmani advised, as he turned back to face them.

"But how will you get down from here?" the first goron asked. "The ledge is far too high, and it would take days for us to all tunnel through the exit!"

Darmani paused for a moment, thinking before he spoke. "I can use my magic to get down from here, but neither of you can be here when I use it. It is very dangerous magic, and I don't either of you to be hurt. Go into the cave, and I will put an end to this blizzard, so that we can finally get you down from here, too."

The two shivering gorons seemed confused at first, the first of the two looking up at the purple fairy beside the goron hero, who'd been floating there without saying a word. "Weren't you the boy's fairy?" the goron asked.

Tael, not having expected to have any conversation directed at him, suddenly realized he was being addressed, and turned quickly to Darmani, who looked at him sharply. "Uh...," Tael stammered. "No. I mean, yes. I was. But... gorons are cooler."

There was a moment of silence between the four of them, only broken by the howling snow. Darmani and the fairy looked at the other two gorons oddly, which only the first goron seemed to pick up on.

"Well, use your magic then, and save Goron Village!" the second goron said, smiling now as he turned towards the cave. "Come on, let's go get warm." The first goron seemed hesitant at first, but then eventually turned around. Darmani watched as they walked into the cave, and almost turned away, before the second goron spun around and called out his name.

"Great Darmani!" he exclaimed, the goron hero turning back around. "Have you seen the Goron Elder yet?" Darmani shook his head. "If you haven't, you should go see him soon! I'm sure he'll be very happy."

"Of course," Darmani said, and then the two gorons disappeared into the darkness of the cave.

Link sighed with relief as soon as they were gone, removing his mask and turning back into a human. Instantly, the cold set in much sharper, his human body not as capable at protecting himself from the snow. "That was close," Link said, as he slipped the mask into his bag along with the empty bottle, pulling out the Lens of Truth.

"I don't understand why it would have been a big deal," Tael stated, looking at the spot where the gorons had been. "You know, if they found out."

"Because, this is Darmani the Third," Link explained. "I'm sure they would be terrified if I walked out with their hero's face, and could wear it to take on his form. They'd think I was a witch, or some dark magic user. The gorons can be superstitious."

"Superstitious?" Tael inquired. "You... kind of _did_ use magic to do that."

Link paused for a second, smiling slightly as he placed the lens over his eye to see where the first rung of the ladder was. "Yes, but I'm not the evil person they'd make me out to be if they knew that."

"I don't know," Tael said, as Link began his descent. "If that magic came from the mask salesman, I don't know if I trust it either."

* * *

The sun had begun to set, but the sky hardly allowed this to be visible. It was a gray block, the snow continuing to bare down on all below it without end. As the world underneath began to darken, the temperature continued to drop, the white tundra that was the northern mountains remaining still and silent. Until, a brown ball came hurtling through the snow, it rolling onward and digging deep into the fallen precipitation, a purple fairy flying as fast as he could to keep up.

Link, as he rolled within his goron form, continued to be fascinated by the new form of seeing that he now commanded. As his eyes were curled up inside of his body, only his back faced the outside world, but, if anything, being in this state heightened his awareness. Every roll he made vibrated with the earth, the waves constructing a image of the cliff he was approaching swiftly. Link, in response, changed direction, rolling away from it and continuing along its edge, his new sense continuing to map out the area more accurately than his eyes ever could have.

Eventually, he rounded the cliff and continued downward, in the direction he knew the Goron Village was. The blank, white tundra had begun to narrow as he continued south, knowing that the village couldn't be much further away. However, while passing one particular mountain stretch, he sensed something other than snow and rock.

Link stopped rolling, the snow stopping his momentum quickly enough. He rolled out of his ball and got to his feet, Tael catching up to him and out of breath. "... You... roll... so fast...," the fairy said, breathing in and out heavily; he'd expected to be flying slowly alongside a lumbering oaf, but he'd forgotten about the goron's evolved method of travel.

Link, by contrast, was not out of breath in the slightest. Rolling was hardly tiring, and doing so allowed him to get more familiar with his goron body; maneuvering was still slightly difficult, but he didn't think it would be long at all before he was as used to it as he was his Deku scrub form.

Link began walking back in the direction he'd come, looking at something intently. Tael eyed him curiously, as he lazily began to follow. "Why'd we stop?"

"Because," Link began, in the deep voice of Darmani. "There's someone else here."

The purple fairy grew tense as soon as he said this, his mind flashing to the Skull Kid, or the creature Link had described with the ReDead face. The two approached a mass in the snow cautiously, it about the size of Link in his goron form. The blizzard made anything else about it impossible to be deciphered until they were up close. It appeared to be a block of ice covered in snow, and when Link wiped part of the snow off, he met the eyes of a goron, trapped inside.  
Tael gasped, flying backward as Link took a step back himself. He removed his mask, returning to his human form so he could pull a bottle of hot spring water from his bag, having filled both of his empty bottles before leaving the cave. He poured it over the top, and the ice began to melt away, Link returning the bottle and mask to his bag as he stepped backward.

The ice dripped to the white ground, revealing a goron far older than Link had ever seen before. His white hair and beard, long and filled with chunks of ice, almost hung all the way to the snowy ground; his lips were large and full, hunched over so that his hardened back looked like an awkward lump sticking straight up into the air. His arms hung limply underneath his body, almost dragging along the snow; Link couldn't tell if he was shaking madly because of having just been frozen, or due to his extremely old age. He decided it was both, and the elderly goron, his hair covering his eyes, blinked heavily as he looked around skittishly.

"Hunh? What was I doing?" he appeared confused, looking at Link and then turning away, deciding the boy insignificant. Then, he suddenly snapped up, looking ahead intently before Link could even say a word. "Ah! It's already this late?! I must hurry!" He began to walk down in the direction Link had been rolling, each step wobbling his body dangerously back and forth.

"... Uh... Hey, goron... guy..." The goron paid no attention, walking along as if he hadn't heard him. "Are you okay?" Link asked, not having to move to keep up, as the old goron hardly made an inch with every shaky step. "Hey!" He paid no attention, however, and he exchanged a glance with Tael that communicated confusion, as the goron he'd just freed continued to walk away.

The old goron, eventually, turned to face him, as if there was some massive sound delay between the two of them, when they were only feet apart. The ancient being looked Link up and down, his legs madly vibrating back and forth; the boy waited for him to say something first, almost unable to believe the creature that stood before him.

"Hunh? You're one we don't see around here much." His voice was old and cracked, it wavering almost as much as his body was. "Have you some business with an elder like me?"

"Actually," Link began, but he was suddenly cut off, the old mountain dweller shaking his head and dismissing him with his hand, the boy taken back.

"Hmm... But I haven't the time to join you!"

"But..."

"What? You want to know what has me so rushed?" The goron then turned back to face the boy, standing high on his legs to stretch out his body to stand tall in a way Link hadn't thought was physically possible for him. He looked straight up into the sky, waving his hands insanely in the air, as if he were talking to some being in the sky.

"It's this cold snap brought on by the disturbances at Snowhead that has crippled this village and frozen it in an icy grip... It's the lack of goods and supplies that is leading to the depopulation of Goron Village. And above all, it's the image of my own poor son, crying continually because of his biting cold." The goron then brought his head down, returning to his hunched position and looking back at Link. "As the Elder, I must do something about the situation the village has been plunged into. But this is our problem! We shall not rely on the strength of strangers..." The Elder then looked off to the side, coughing heavily before turning back to the boy, and adding a final, "Mmmph."

Link, upon hearing this, remembered the second of the two gorons in front of the cave ask him to visit the Goron Elder, and he also recalled the goron baby and guard from the village referring to him as well. Link stood there for a moment as the Elder began to attempt to walk again, as if they'd never had the interaction.

"I know how to get him to talk," Link finally said to himself, walking several steps back from the elder to make sure he was distanced far enough. He then took the mask from his bag.

"Wait!" Tael exclaimed, flying up beside him. "What if he sees you?"

"He won't," Link said, shaking his head. "Look at him." The purple fairy looked up to watch the elderly goron continue to struggle, and quickly nodded his head in agreement.

The next time Link stood in front of the elder, it was in the form of Darmani. But the elder didn't even look over his shoulder, not noticing who was standing beside him as he waddled onward. Link, scoffing, went to stand a few feet in front of the elder, easily accomplishing this task before the old goron had even taken a step.

The elder walked shakily for a good half a minute before looking up and realizing who it was that stood just in front of him, Tael remaining out of sight just behind.

"Oh!" the elder said, stopping in his tracks, but continuing to shake, moving his head back and forth oddly as he examined the strong goron before him. "You're Darmani!" Link waited for the elder to say more, but when he didn't, he merely nodded his head and smiled. The elder, however, didn't seem to appreciate this, scoffing and shaking his head slowly in comparison to the rest of his body. "But you're supposed to be dead! Am I hallucinating?"

"No, it's me," Link said, remaining strong before him, the cold not making him flinch. "I've returned to help Goron Village."

The elder remained standing, as if considering what all he had said, a peculiar expression on his face, as if it struggled to show emotion. "Maybe this is also the doing of Snowhead's magic power..." The old goron spoke as if Link had never said anything, shaking his head. He began his meager attempt at walking once more, continuing to shake his head out of rhythm with the rest of his shaking body.

"Hmmph... I've been made a fool of!" The elder continued talking to himself, keeping his head down as he journeyed onward, Link only able to stare dumbfounded, wondering how many hours it would take before he could journey the five feet to catch up to him. "But... that's impossible. I refuse to flinch. If I can see past the illusion, you'll vanish in an instant!"

Link, taking a few moments to accept this Elder, took a step forward to cause the old goron to stop and look up. "I'm not an illusion. I'm Darmani the Third, and the blood of proud goron heroes runs in my blood." The Elder's eyes widened at this. "I come from Goron Village because your son cries for you. My job is to go to Snowhead and break the curse; yours is to remain by your peoples' side while they're in this time of hardship. You shouldn't have left them; they need a leader in a time like this, while their hero is off fighting their battles."

The Elder, after listening to this, stumbled backward a step, Link almost reaching out to catch him; he, however, regained his balance, and stopped his head from wavering as he picked a spot to stare off at. "... What?" Link, sighing when he at first thought the old man hadn't heard him, stopped when he continued speaking. "My son is crying because he misses me?" The Elder then turned back to look at Darmani, his brow furrowing. "Why do you know that?"

"Because I was there," Link assured him, hoping his goron face was expressing concern.

"My son misses me...," the Elder said to himself, looking off again. Suddenly, the Elder straightened himself once more, as if a sense of purpose had fulfilled him; his shaking, surprisingly, also decreased by half. "Up! Forgive me, my child! Your father has work to do!"

The Elder, saying this as if his son were standing before him, turned back to Darmani, now with full awareness in his eyes. "Darmani... Be you a ghost or a figment of my imagination, I no longer care. If you feel pity for my crying son... then please quietly sing my son to sleep with this song I am about to play on my drum. It is the very same melody that was often played for you when you were young."

The Elder, after saying this, turned around, beginning to shakily back track the three steps he had taken since being unfrozen. Link watched curiously, raising an eyebrow when he didn't see a drum anywhere. However, in only a minute, the Elder made it to where he had started, reaching down and pulling something out that had been covered in snow. It was, in fact, a single drum. It was a djembe, the old goron's hands coming down at just the right length without having to bend any further to play it.

"How does this song go?" the Elder said to himself, before hitting a few notes on its tightened skin. The beats formed a rhythm, but the old goron stopped every time he played the beginning, going back to repeat it and making odd noises, as if he'd forgotten. "... Let me play it once more." The Elder attempted again, but found himself only able to, once again, duplicate the intro. "Ummm... Ah, yes, yes! Like this!" However, the same thing happened, and the Elder looked down sadly.

He knocked the drum over in frustration, it anti-climatically tipping over to fall lightly in the snow. "It's no good! I can remember only the beginning!" The Elder, allowing his frustration to exit him in trembling, then reached down to turn the drum back up in front of him for playing, Link and Tael unsure as to how concerned they should be for the goron's well-being.

"I'll just teach you the beginning..." And so, the Elder played the introduction once more, Link paying attention; his knack for music allowed him to memorize the notes, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to find the pitches again later on a different instrument. Nonetheless, the Elder finished playing after a few repetitions, placing the drum back in the snow behind him once he was done.

"It's not that I forgot it. It's just so cold that I can't play very well... At any rate, I am counting on you." With that, the Elder turned away from Darmani, and began to waddle away as if nothing had happened.

"Wait... you want me to play this song to put your son to sleep?" Link inquired.

"You can play the intro," the Elder explained, "but yes, so that he stops crying until I get there."

"I could help you get there, and _you_ could play it for him."

"NO!" the Elder, much to Link's surprise, screamed in response. Taken back, Link watched completely stunned as the elderly goron shook his head in disagreement. "I will get there on my own. Don't wait for me."

"But... it's so cold...," Link began.

"And I will get there eventually," the Elder said. "Please, go on without me." He walked on as if Link had already agreed with him, though still making no progress.

Link, thinking of what he could say to argue, looked at the drum resting in the snow behind him. "What about your drum?"

"I'll come back and get it later."

Link, still unable to believe the character he'd just conversed with, hesitantly took a step backward, watching the pathetic, stubborn creature continue to fail at walking. He then turned around, beginning to move away.

"You're just going to leave him?" Tael asked, once they were a safe way out of ear shot.

"It would probably take several hours to carry him back to camp, and that's time I'm not willing to waste, if he's not willing to be saved," Link responded, looking up at the darkening sky through the snow. "We only have about thirty-six hours left."

He then rolled into a ball and began, once more, his journey to Goron Village. Tael sighed, reluctantly flying to catch up.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Steph: Thank you! I'm honored to have someone enjoy and react to the story so much! I'm eager to get to all of those parts as well, and am doing my best to get there in a timely fashion.

wolflink: Thanks! I am always trying to find time to update more often; this summer looks like a gold mine for that to happen. Hopefully then I'll begin making really serious progress!

skullcandy60: The black robed guy does appear Satan-like... but yes, more updates, whenever I am able!

Guest (JAG): The outside of Termina? There will be more on that later, as really the intent here was just to finally show what was there. And I know, quite a few if's! Haha, I apologize, but hopefully will have all of them satisfied soon enough!


	31. Goron Lullaby

_Chapter 31: Goron Lullaby_

The Mountain Smithy stood tall as the day turned to night, the sun hardly visible through a break in the clouds. The snow fell lightly, the trail snaking up further into the mountain and down towards Clock Town. The giant with the hammer, Gabora, was outside dragging tektite corpses beside his home, throwing them into a pile and going to collect more, the bodies scattered across the snowy lawn.

The Skull Kid watched from above, sitting on a high mountain wall with the bottled fairy just beside him. Tatl lay at the bottom, looking at the mass grave that was slowly being formed, and then up at the moon. It was half-way through its descent, eyes turned away from the mountains of Snowhead.

She pressed her face against the bottle then, trying to peer over the edge. She was hardly an inch from the cliff, and could easily knock herself over before the Skull Kid stopped her. She would plummet, hundreds of feet, unable to fly, until the bottle shattered. Then...

But even after all she'd learned, she was still afraid to die. Her time spent as a captive had revealed to her everything, and with each string of knowledge, it began to dawn on her how hopeless everything was. All events taking place had been set in motion long ago, and the chess master's game was still going according to plan. Tatl knew that when the next three day cycle started, the small ray of hope Link had brought to Termina would be blotted out forever.

Yet, even with this knowledge, even knowing that this cycle would be her last, and that each second remaining in her life was merely giving the Skull Kid a longer opportunity to make her remaining hours miserable- she couldn't do it. She couldn't fling herself over the edge. Tatl, as she stared off of the cliff that she knew could give her death, didn't know if it was fear or some deluded sense of hope that kept her there.

Tears began to well in her eyes, as she backed away from the surface of the glass and went to the corner of her bottle. She closed her eyes and huddled into a ball, keeping her head down as she cried. "_Link..._," she said, her voice hardly a whisper. "_Please come save me. Please..._"

Suddenly, her bottle was lifted into the air. Tatl's head instantly shot up, and she was face to face with Majora's Mask, the Skull Kid now pressing his masked face against the bottle as he held it in his hands. "_How did he do it?_" the Skull Kid asked, his whisper sending chills down the fairy's spine, as she looked up at him fearfully. "_How did he use my magic to hurt me?_"

Tatl could only shiver in response, backing away as far from him in the bottle as she could. It took her a moment to realize he was talking about Link, in the sewers of Clock Town, when he had redirected the Skull Kid's magic back at him. "_You're going to die, fairy. When the moon kills you and everyone else here. But before that happens, you're going to tell me how he did it. The dark sorcerer never told me that could happen._"

Tatl, upon hearing this, looked off for a moment, as if just having realized something, knowing that the 'dark sorcerer' referred to her original captor. The Skull Kid never lost his gaze, and so when the fairy looked back at him, this time with more courage, he was thrown off. Her voice shook, her eyes red and watery.

"You don't know his name either, do you?" the Skull Kid's dark composure melted from behind the mask, as he realized what she was saying. "No one does. You're his puppet too, just like the rest of us."

Suddenly, the bottle burned her skin. Tatl flew off of its glass surface in reaction, realizing the heat had come from the Skull Kid's hands. When she slowly turned to look back at the mask, all she saw was anger. "_**I am no one's puppet. You are the pawns, and I will burn you all**_."

Tatl could only cower, as the Skull Kid turned away from her and flew off of the cliff, bottle in hand.

* * *

Link exited his ball as soon as he felt Goron Village approaching. Rising to his feet, he turned to see he'd just come through the mountain pass he'd used to leave this place. The village was exactly as it had been before, once again shrouded in night. The snow, however, was heavier, and Link looked back and forth to see that no gorons were outside to greet him. Tael flew up beside him, noticing the same thing. "This place is always deserted when we come here."

"They're hiding," Link said, walking over towards the building where he'd met the baby. He found this task much more manageable than it had been before, now able to navigate his Goron body much more efficiently.

When he reached the thick, stone slab of a door he knew was the entrance to the Goron Shrine, he looked up to see the same shivering goron on a ledge just above the door. He had been looking around blankly, not noticing as Link had approached. It wasn't until Link gave him an unbroken stare that the goron noticed him.

"O-o-only a Goron pound can open the door...," the goron said, shivering as madly as he was before. Link remembered him saying his shift was almost over the first time he'd seen him, and hoped he'd actually had a break sometime in the twenty-four hours he'd been gone. "It's going to c-c-close right away though, so it d-d-doesn't get cold inside. Okay?"

Link, deciding that the snow was too thick and the goron too cold to notice whose form he was taking, merely nodded his head, walking in front of the door and tentatively rolling into a ball. "What's a Goron pound?" Tael asked, watching inquisitively.

Link, once in his rolled form, hoisted his entire body several feet into the air, and he crashed down into the snow with his hardened back. The shock wave this created resonated over the purple fairy, himself shaking its effects off and looking up to see the heavy door sliding open. Link rolled out of his ball to notice the black mark it left on the ground. He and the fairy exchanged a glance, Link smiling. He half-expected some sarcastic remark to come from the fairy's mouth, but his smile faded slightly when he realized this wasn't Tatl.

"What?" Tael asked, looking confused.

"Nothing," Link said, looking down as he continued into the shrine. "Come on. We need to hurry."

They both passed inside, and the door closed behind them.

Instantly, he remembered a detail of this place he'd forgotten: the shrill crying of the goron baby. Link instantly brought his hands to his ears, bringing his head up to see the other gorons were still in just as much distress as they had been a day ago. Their eyes were slammed shut, trying in vainly to shut out the noise that refused to cease.

"What is that noise?!" Tael exclaimed, repeating himself once he realized he hadn't been loud enough for Link to hear.

"The elder's son," Link exclaimed, his voice's volume aided by its facade as Darmani's. He looked around at the irritated gorons and then at the second floor where he knew the baby was.

"You think that the... beginning of a song will be enough to put him to sleep?" Tael inquired, clearly uncertain as to what they were doing. "How is doing that even going to help us get to Snowhead?"

"It'll help us win over the gorons," Link explained. "And _that_ will help us get to Snowhead."

Link began walking over to the ramp, and Tael stayed behind for a moment, taking in all of the gorons that happened to notice the dead hero and his fairy. Not many of them happened to look over, but the few that did were unable to look away, their black eyes wide. The purple fairy wondered if Link had forgotten the impact his form would have on the gorons, but followed him nonetheless, the disguised boy ignorant of those who thought he was Darmani.

Soon, they'd passed into the room with the baby. He still sat in the large chair, his head thrown back and releasing a monstrous scream, tears forming a continuous stream. The guards surrounding him had their hands over their ears and their eyes squeezed shut, Link only taking the former precaution. His eyes went to the collection of toys and possessions in the corner that he had noticed earlier, and his lips curled into a smile when a pair of drums were among them. He pulled them out amongst the rest of the materials, the guards in the room opening their eyes. They seemed confused, but merely stood there as Link's back was too them lifting the drums. As soon as he turned around, however, the guards' expressions all become shocked zeroes.

They watched, dumbfounded, as Darmani went to stand before the baby. There had turned out to be four drums stringed together, Link adorning himself with them so they rested on his stomach. He looked up to see the guards staring at him, wordless, and the baby stopping his crying momentarily to see who was before him.

"...Hyunh, hunh... Ahh, Darmi?" Amidst the baby's sobs, he seemed to recognize who he was. Link nodded his head. "Where's my daddy? Where's my daddy?"

"He's-" but he was cut off. The baby began to sob once more, as if his deceased family friend had not reappeared just before him. Link was taken back at first, looking down at the drums thoughtfully, the guards exchanging glances but not sure what to do, or whether to believe their eyes.

"Whaa!" This was the first thing Link had heard from the guard to his right. He turned his head, the goron in awe of his long white side burns and familiar face. "There's something wrong with my eyes. He's supposed to be dead... yet I see Darmani standing right before my own eyes."

"I could not rest until my people had been saved," Link explained, his mind trying to go back to what he'd told the first two gorons he'd come across. The guards were clearly accustomed to shouting in order to communicate, but Link had to speak again when he realized they hadn't been able to hear him. "I am here to end the never ending winter that comes from Snowhead."

The Goron guard merely stared at him blankly, arms still covering his ears to block out the screaming. "… It is you. Y-you can have the food I hid in the chandelier up there, so p-please, j-just die in peace."

"I'm not here to die," Link said, beginning to grow frustrated at the dumbfounded bewilderment he constantly met. "I'm here to save Snowhead. The Elder tasked me with putting his son at ease, which I am doing now, and then I must set off to end the masked imp's curse. But I need to know how to get there."

The guard took a moment to process this, nodding his head hesitantly. "If you go through the entrance to the village west of here, and then follow the steep mountain pass north, you'll eventually reach Snowhead. The pass begins at the end of the large valley."

Link nodded his head. "Thank you." He then turned to go back to his drums, but the guard grabbed his attention before he began, the second guard still stunned as he took in what was happening.

"If you really are Darmani... Please. Save us. Maybe the gods haven't forsaken us yet."

Link looked back over to his right, his eyes going from the sleeping child back to the guard. "They haven't."

Link, after this, closed his eyes, trying his best to remember what he was supposed to play. He hummed the pitches to himself, and hit the drums to hear which one's matched them. Everyone in the room watched attentively, except for the baby. Link soon found that the task was impossible to complete, however. He'd learned the song hours ago, and only part of it, on an instrument he'd never played. Struggling to find the right pitches, and uncertain as to whether he even remembered what they were supposed to be, his mind went to his ocarina, hidden in his human form. It would be much easier for him to come up with the song on that, but the audience around him would not take lightly to transforming into a human, with their hero's face in his hand. He remembered being here earlier as a human, talking of how he was venturing to find the Skull Kid north of Termina. The mask would be all the evidence they needed to believe he was some sort of dark sorcerer...

The baby, however, stopped crying, now sniffling as he looked at Link inquisitively. He stopped playing when he noticed this change in the infant, the Goron baby having recognized the melody in the incorrect notes he'd played.

"That song... ," the baby began, his voice high-pitched for a goron's. "That's the song daddy always plays for me before I go to sleep..." Link wasn't sure what to say, opening his mouth to find words, but none came. "I'll sing the next part."

The baby then pushed himself further back into his chair, closed his eyes, and then began to sing the notes. Link took advantage of this immediately, beginning to tap along on the drum, now recognizing which head produced which sound. The baby seemed to know all of it, too, unlike the elder, and soon he had the whole thing, repeating it where necessary to continue the lullaby.

Eventually, the baby had stopped singing, and only Link's drums were making noise. The infant's eyes then closed, a content smile replacing his frown. He began to relax further into his chair as Link continued to loop the lullaby, Tael noticing that even the guards in the room had their eyes beginning to grow heavy.

"Mmmmm... It's just like... daddy's... right... beside me..." After this final declaration, the Goron baby fell asleep, his head tilted to the side as his consciousness ebbed, the room now filled with the gentle snores of a baby, rather than the shrill shrieks of an angry goron.

Link, after making sure that the baby was absolutely asleep, stopped playing the drums, taking them off and setting them to the side, as he stood tall. He smiled at what he had accomplished, Tael looking around to see what happened to the guards.

"Whoa," the fairy said, Link turning to see what he meant. The guards in the room had both curled into balls, each visibly breathing in and out gently, their snores joining in with those of the baby's. "That song..."

"A Goron Lullaby," Link said, amazed how effective it had been at putting all three gorons in the room to sleep, unintentionally.

"And we stopped the baby from crying," Tael said, smiling.

Link smiled back, feeling accomplished. At least the gorons who remained awake could enjoy the remainder of this stretch of silence.

Following the rug out of the Elder's room onto the balconied second floor, Link and Tael saw over the railing the entire population of the shrine looking up at him. "Look!" Tael said, as Link approached the rail and placed his hands on it, taking in the people below him. They had all stopped closing their eyes and covering their ears, though many still shivered. All of them, however, looked up to see their deceased goron hero looking down at them, the word having spread from the few who'd noticed him as he'd gone to see the baby. Now Link was looking down at them from above, as if a leader prepared to deliver a speech of some sort. Hushed whispers passed amongst the crowd, the name, "Darmani" present among them.

Link glanced at Tael nervously, the purple fairy merely shrugging. Link, deciding there was no other way out of this, looked over the balcony at the people below him, clearing his throat.

"The gorons of Goron Village...," Link began, his voice deep, but his uncertainty coming through. After noticing this, he took a deep breath, reassuring himself before saying anything further. "_My_ people... I'm sure many of you are wondering how I'm here before you now, after my death... some time ago." There seemed to be a general sense of approval in the crowd, as if calmed by the fact that this figure – be it a friendly ghost or demon – was able to understand how unnerving his presence was. "But let me assure you, that this is not the point of my return." Confusion followed this statement, but they remained quiet to hear his explanation.

"I, too, am uncertain how I stand here before you. The demon in Snowhead did blow me off the mountain, but that has not stopped me from returning to my people. The first thought that came into my head, when I opened my eyes, was not why I had been given life again. I did not fear that some dark curse had befallen me, or that I was merely an apparition, to vanish after a short period of time. I awoke, knowing that I had a second chance to save my people. I awoke with the strength of warriors of heroes past. I awoke with the understanding that I could not rest until my people lived free of the curse that plagued them.

"I come to you not as a demon, or a ghost, or a shadow... I come here as your hero. I will vanquish the beast that has caused our village untold hardships and misery. And though I probably will not return, rest knowing that when the sun breaks free from the clouds, and the grass grows green again, and the last of the snow has fallen, it is I that have saved you. I have not forgotten our struggle, and it is this memory that breathed life into me again. A hero never abandons his people.

"I am Darmani the Third. The blood of proud Goron heroes runs in me. And I have come to save you."

With that, Link took his hands off of the railing and continued looking down at the people below him. There was a moment of silence that held the breath of everyone in the room. In it, Link wondered if he had said the right thing, suddenly worried that he would be burned at the stake, for being a witch, for using magic they did not understand. Link, then, realized he wasn't sure he understood it either. As he looked at the uncertain faces of the gorons below him, he turned to look at Tael floating beside him.

_I'm sure they would be terrified if I walked out with their hero's face, and could wear it to take on his form. They'd think I was a witch, or some dark magic user. The gorons can be superstitious._

_Superstitious?_ Tael had inquired. _You... kind of _did_ use magic to do that._

Suddenly, Link was dashing across the rocky passage of Death Mountain, the son blazing behind he and Epona... he held her cold hand, placing it on his forehead as he sobbed, willing her to come back... he lead his horse out of the gates of the castle, resolving to never come back... he'd finally managed to cross Hyrule's borders and was plodding through the forest on the other side. Epona suddenly stopped moving, stiff, Link feeling her trembling terribly underneath him. The change was abrupt, looking up to see... he was spinning through the air, his horse neighing shrilly in pain...

Then the goron crowd burst into uproarious applause. Link blinked heavily, and when he opened his eyes, the flashes of memory were gone. Standing below him was a crowd of cheering hands high into the air in celebration. It took him a moment to absorb what was happening, and he looked to Tael to see a smile spread across his face.

"It worked," the purple fairy said, near laughing.

Link – Darmani – turned down to the cheering crowd below him, smiling.

* * *

Goron Village began to disappear in the distance, along with the gorons who had stood outside in the snow to see him off. They were soon replaced with the thick blanket of snow falling through the sky, and Link and Tael pressed onward through it with the directions they had been given.

"That was impressive," Tael commented.

"What?"

"The speech. I didn't know you were a good public speaker, too. I feel like you can do pretty much everything."

"Not everything," Link said, smiling to himself. "I had to get the hang of speaking in front of crowds after saving Hyrule. Where I'm from. I ended up being around the Royal family a lot."

"Were you a prince or something?"

"No," Link answered flatly. "I almost..." He trailed off, though, not finishing. "I was just... the Hero of Time."

"You definitely sounded like a hero in there," Tael said, not questioning as to what the 'almost' had meant, given his tone. "I'm definitely not a hero."

"You saved me in the cave," Link pointed out.

"I don't think that makes me a hero, though. I..." The fairy cut off, before continuing. "... I just didn't have anywhere else to go."

"That cave was pretty frightening," the boy disguised as a goron stated. "It takes some amount of bravery to go in. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead." The fairy had no response to this, allowing a few moments of silence to pass before speaking.

"Do you know where we're going?" Tael inquired.

"We're close to the area where the ReDead creature sabotaged me, I think. If we keep on going this way, we should reach the temple."

"All right," the purple fairy commented. "It's just really dark, and I can't light up very much in this storm..."

"Oh!" Link exclaimed, as he began to curl into a ball. "I forgot I could roll."

"Wait, no! I can't keep-" But Link sped off before the fairy could finish his sentence, already picking up speed. "... up." Tael sighed, flying as quickly as he could to keep up with the goron tearing through the snow.

Once again, the immediate area was under Link's all-seeing sensory perception. Every crevice, every wall, every pass... and he found it easier to guide himself this way, the darkness and precipitation not capable of hindering him in this state.

As he rolled, he realized he might run into the ReDead creature again. He felt it was too hopeful of an idea to hold onto, but this _was _the area he had been attacked. Maybe it resided in Snowhead, and would be waiting for him in the temple. Link remembered Tael's initial bewilderment that he would dare go after someone who had complete control over its opponent's movement. He really didn't have a plan, regarding his strategy in defeating the monster, but he had to confront it.

As frightening as the prospect of that battle might be, the alternative was losing Tatl. Though the image of the ReDead face had burnt itself into his mind and was horrifying, even more terrifying was his fear that the creature wouldn't be at Snowhead. And that the mask salesman wouldn't be under the clock tower to help him. And that he wouldn't run into anybody on his way back to Clock Town, whether it be the cloaked ReDead being, the masked imp, the mask salesman, or his fairy. Then, he would be left with a terrible decision: either letting the moon fall, or leaving Tatl behind.

The night was still young when his rambling mind was interrupted. The valley he'd been working his way across had begun to narrow, and now it had ended at a singular mountain pathway, sloping steeply upward. He stopped his rolling and crawled out of his ball, standing as Darmani to examine the continuation of the road to Snowhead.

One side of the pathway was bordered by a sheer mountain wall: his left. The other side of the pathway had no border; it was a cliff that decided into a massive chasm miles wide. Mountain walls could be seen ringing around to make a border in the distance, but the thin pathway hugging the wall to his left was the only thing preventing a frightening death.

Tael caught up to him, appearing slightly out of breath.

"I don't think you realize how fast you're going in that thing," Tael said.

"Something tells me we're close," Link replied. "I don't think they'll be much more room for me to roll as fast as I want anymore. I would have gone over that edge if I hadn't stopped."

"Whoa," Tael said, looking over him to see the chasm. "I guess we'd better walk carefully from here on out?"

Link nodded, and stepped onto the ledge. Tael followed, the snow still descending at a constant rate. Link, under normal circumstances, would have waited until morning to traverse through the mountains, for this reason. But when the sun came up next, it would be the final day. He couldn't afford to wait that long.

He walked carefully, beginning to wander if it would be safer in his goron or human form. Being Darmani protected him from the cold, but his solid rock body would plummet quickly were he to fall, and he'd feel safer on ice walking with human legs.

Soon, a sign came into the distance, and when they were close enough for Tael to illuminate its writing, the question was answered for him. "Warning! Closed to the general public and those who cannot perform the Goron jump." The sign was covered in a thick layer of ice, but it was still barely possible to read.

"The Goron jump?" Tael read. "Can you do that?'

"I don't know," Link admitted. "I feel like gorons can't really jump very far."

"Huh. I guess the sign didn't think a fairy would ever come through here." Tael turned to Link, smiling. Link couldn't help but smile back at the fairy's attempt at humor; granted Tatl's rhetoric would have been much crisper, it was comforting, nonetheless.

"Let's just hope I can figure it out when we get there."

They walked on in silence, with the whistling of the snow filling their ears. The incline gradually continued to increase. The massive drop on the right was a constant ominous threat as they went upwards, Link almost slipping once and barely stopping himself on the wall. Minutes past, each ticking away the time remaining to fix everything before the world ended.

It was then that a rumbling could be heard in the distance.

Link looked over his shoulder up the mountain wall, instantly noticing the boulder of snow tumbling down the mountain side. It was far off into the distance, but it began to upset more pockets of snow as it continued downward. The narrow avalanche shot straight down towards Link and Tael, as if through a chute. It was mere seconds from collapsing onto them. The purple fairy instantly flew away from the mountain path, over the chasm his wings could keep him above. Link, after putting one foot forward from an initial reaction to run, hesitated when he realized that he would not be quick enough. He rolled himself into a ball and ground pounded himself into the pathway, just as the mass of snow came crashing down on top of him.

Tael could only watch as the small brown ball disappeared into the thick stream of white. The snow went on to roll over of the edge, a frozen waterfall descending down into the endless pit. Tael remained at a safe distance, watching as the cascading blanket of white widened to begin showering down on top of the entirety pathway. The fairy waited until the snow calmed and the spray of the avalanche had vanished to approach.

"Link?" Tael asked, the tone in his voice wavering as he approached the mass of snow that had collected on the path. He realized he easily could have been driven off the edge along with the avalanche, hidden by the falling snow.

It was to Tael's surprise that he heard a shout come from far off into the distance, further along the path than they had made it. Tael turned his head and saw something that hadn't caught his attention before: a massive, square-shaped pile of snow, levitating in the air just feet from the pathway, where the avalanche had occurred. The white snow stood out amidst the black of the chasm surrounding it. It was the snow that made it possible for him to make out the shape standing _on_ the levitating pile of snow: a goron.

He had shouted on realization of his current predicament.

"Link?!" Tael inquired, making to fly over towards the trapped goron. He was quite a ways down the pathway, the purple fairy not understanding how it was possible he could have been teleported that far down. He would've needed to fall a vertical distance to match the horizontal. However, a hand shot out from inside of the snow just behind him.

Tael spun around to see another hand, the thick, muscular arms beginning to pull themselves out of the pile of snow. When the white sideburns and green hat made an appearance, Tael turned back to the other goron off into the distance, realizing this was some random mountain dweller. The avalanche had likely thrown him off of the pathway, and he'd happened to land in an exact spot where gravity simply refused to work. The gap between the floating pile of snow and pathway, though, was too great for a creature of his weight to make. The fairy realized the snowfall, mixed with the darkness and loud whistling of the wind, had prevented either of them from noticing him that far ahead.

"Link!" Tael began, turning to see he had pulled himself out of the pile completely, dusting himself off and shivering. "Look!"

Link, initially irritated that the fairy hadn't bothered to ask if he was injured, saw what he had. "What...?" He picked up his booted feet and began to walk as fast as he could towards his troubled kin, the massive piles of snow covering the pathway making it difficult.

The trapped goron was on his hands and knees, feeling the cool, icy surface of some invisible platform he'd found himself on. He peered over the edge where it ended to see the massive drop awaiting him; he wouldn't be able to make the jump back to the pathway. He sat there shivering, mortified and unable to bring himself to move. He didn't understand what was happening, the snow around him the only things marking the border of whatever he'd found himself on. The slightest movement might destroy everything, and he would then plummet to his death.

Something then caught his eye. He looked up to see a bright ball of purple light floating next to another goron. The goron was climbing over the pile of snow to get as close as he could to him, to the spot on the pathway where he had been thrown off. He, amidst his shaking, attempted to make out the features of whoever had found him stuck here. When he did, his fear increased ten-fold.

"D-d-darmani?" His voice was hardly a whisper. He didn't think the dead goron hero had heard him.

Link continued hastily approaching, now not far from the spot on the pathway level with the invisible platform the goron was trapped on.

"How is he floating in the air like that?!" Tael asked, confused. He looked to see that, far off into the distance, there was a tall column of ice in the middle of the chasm. The invisible platform the trapped goron was on seemed to be level with it, though the column was far from it. The fairy, looking closer, almost swore he saw thin, square-shaped discs levitating in between the invisible platform and the column of ice far off, as if a small layer of snow had collected on something.

"There was something similar in Goron Village," Link answered. "They called it Lone Peak Shrine. I guess there are more of them in the mountains." It was then that he reached the edge, now several feet of empty air separating him from the goron, trapped along with the thick pile of snow surrounding him.

He remained on his hands and knees, looking up at Link with wide, terrified eyes, shivering and appearing incapable of movement. "D-d-d-d-d..." The goron couldn't finish his statement, and it was then that Link realized who this was.

Gorbus. The goron who had found him freezing to death in the valley and restored him to health.

The deep sadness he had seen earlier in his eyes was now replaced with panic.

"Just... just hold on," Link said, after recognizing him. His hand went for his bag, but it only met air. His bag was trapped in his human form. It was then that he was aware of who he looked like, as he often forgot, and looked up to realize why Gorbus was stuttering on the "D" sound. "I'm just trying to help you."

"You're a... g-g-ghost."

"No, I'm not, I-"

Gorbus's hands slipped, and he face planted, his nose an inch away from the edge as he now laid flat. Though the pit was always visible, he could _feel_ the cold wind of the chasm blowing against his nose's tip, and somehow he knew he'd run out of invisible ledge.

"_Whoa_, hold on!" Link said, in response to his slipping. His hands kept nervously going down to his side, where knew his bag would be.

"Link, what are you doing?!" Tael asked in a hushed voice.

"I need the lens..." Link said, nervously looking back at the goron staring frightfully up at him, who had torn his eyes away from the massive fall below him.

Then, he decided it was time to make a decision. Link removed the Goron mask. His human form returned instantaneously, as did his bag. The pounds of rock, fat, and muscle were gone, and suddenly Gorbus was looking at the boy who had left his hut yesterday, promising to rid Snowhead of the curse.

Gorbus's eyes widened even more, if that was possible, looking up to see Darmani's face in his right hand. "Y-y-you..."

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything, as soon as I save you," Link said hastily. He pulled out the Lens of Truth and peered through. He discovered it was almost exactly as it had been at the Lone Peak Shrine, the platforms leading to the apparently empty column in the distance. Except, the floating chunks of ice were square. The one closest to the pathway was the one Gorbus had found himself trapped on, laying right at its edge.

"Okay, I need you to stand up slowly," Link said, looking through to make sure Gorbus didn't overstep his boundaries. He was sprawled out and dangerously close to falling, were he to make one wrong move.

"I-I-I..."

"Gorbus, please," Link said. "Just calm down, and stand up slowly. You're standing on an invisible platform. This lens I have in my hand is showing it to me; you just have to trust me. You have to stand up."

Gorbus, after taking one more frightened glance looking down into the chasm, forced himself to take a deep breath, closing his eyes. He began shakily pushing himself off of the invisible surface, his knees wobbling as he began to stand. The cold suddenly hit Link all at once, the wind whistling against his much fragiler human skin as he stood there at the edge. Gorbus really was only feet away from him; Link could make the jump easily as a human.

"Now, step just a bit closer," Link said, as soon as Gorbus was on his feet. "Towards me."

"But..."

"Just do it. There's still a little bit of ledge left. I want you to know where the very end of it is."

"Wh-wh-why? Do you want me to...?"

"One thing at a time," Link said. "Just take a small step forward."

Gorbus eventually did just that, inching his feet very slowly away from the pile of snow towards the endless drop.

"Good," Link said. "Now stop there." He lowered the lens, putting it back into his bag, and sighing before he continued. "I need you to listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you next. Remember where that edge is, because I'm going to ask you to back up, run as fast as you can, and..."

"No!" Gorbus exclaimed. "I can't do it. I won't make it."

"I know," Link said. "But I'm going to catch you and pull you up, once I turn back into a goron."

"You..."

"Darmani is strong enough, and besides, that's the only option we have here." Link bit his tongue as he said it, however. There was one other option: he could leap over there as a human, and teleport him back to the first day with the Song of Time. Link, though, refused to even consider leaving Tatl behind for this goron.

"D-d-darmani..." Gorbus said shakily. "You- have his face."

"No, it's not a face," Link said, holding it up. "It's just a..." Link trailed off though, his eyes drifting away from Gorbus as he realized what he was saying. He looked down to what appeared to be Darmani, in his hand.

_ No, it's not a face. It's just a mask_. The words, for some reason, echoed in his mind, as if bringing him to the verge of some great revelation. He replayed them in his head, as he looked at the Goron mask, the knowledge just within his grasp.

But Tael's voice interrupted him before he could put his finger on it.

"_Link! The avalanche!_"

A familiar rumbling noise was occurring. Link slowly turned around and up to see a second wave of snow rolling down towards them. A second frozen waterfall, to come down upon them in mere seconds.

Link's blue eyes widened, his thoughts instantly replaced with adrenaline. "_Gorbus!_" Link exclaimed, placing the Goron's mask back over his face. Once again, he was Darmani. The trapped goron looked up after hearing his name called, to see the approaching avalanche himself. "_I need you to jump- now!_"

"I-I-I... can't..." he looked nervously at the gap separating them. If he stayed, the snow would jump the gap _for_ him and bring him down to his death. Link would die too, standing that close to the edge. Gorbus landed on the invisible platform because he had happened to be further up the pathway from it; he had been blown over _and_ down.

"_Yes you can! Jump now, or I'm leaving you there!_"

Gorbus looked up at his deceased hero that was kneeling near the edge, hands outstretched ready to attempt to catch him. The snow was not far from wiping them all out, aside from Tael, who watched from the safe distance he'd been at before.

Then, he suspended all thought, realizing it was getting him no where. Gorbus backed up as far as he dared to, planted his feet firmly, and ran for the edge Link had told him to remember. He pushed himself off of it, flinging out his arms towards Link as gravity sought to soil their plan.

Link's hands wrapped firmly around Gorbus's upper arms, the falling goron grabbing his own, their arms interlocked. Link was brought down to his stomach instantly, hanging over the edge as the goron dangled below him. The thick, corded muscles on Darmani's arms bulged as he held up his fellow townsperson. The rumbling of the avalanche was just behind him.

Link, sweat breaking out on his forehead and every muscle in his body straining, had never lifted something so heavy in his life. The rock creature was enormous, and he knew that, had he been human, he would have been ripped off of the pathway instantaneously, the both of them falling. He took one massive gulp of air, and screamed loudly as he pulled Gorbus back up on the ledge with him.

Link, momentarily collapsing onto the snow in exhaustion, looked up to see they had no time left to spare. He quickly got to his feet, and helped Gorbus up to his. Then he flung himself into the goron to push them back against the mountain wall, just as the snow flew over the edge and came barreling down on top of them.

Tael let out a gasp, as both of them were swallowed whole by the snow.

* * *

Tatl watched helplessly from within the bottle. They were hundreds of feet into the air.

Snowhead was far off to the north, and the people of Clock Town – or what remained of them – stirred below her. She knew most of them had evacuated by now. The moon was not far above, only a day away from blotting out all life in Termina. She knew this time, Link would not be there to play the Song of Time and whisk her away. This time, she would die, as the first Tatl had. She looked, from far above, into the plaza of South Clock Town, wondering if her body still lay there, deceased, in some other reality. Then, she looked back up at the moon, deciding that it would have completely obliterated such a small, fragile body – _her_ body.

The great ball atop the clock tower, which was their floor, rotated, allowing the bright light shining from it to beam across all of Termina. It would, for a moment, illuminate the south, revealing its dark trees, the swamp within hidden from view. The forest life, the witches in their hut, the monkeys. The swamp water teemed with a myriad of simplistic life, all existing unaware of the doom soon to befall them. Koume and Kotake were likely bickering as she sat in her glass prison, sometimes as antagonistic as fire and ice; yet, they were opposites attracted to one another. Tatl knew deep down the sisters could not be separated. She wondered if one of them had survived, the night Link and Tatl had abandoned them. She wondered if only one of them dying was a fate worse than both. She decided it didn't matter; the moon would have obliterated them in the end.

The light would then pass to shine over the ocean. It would sparkle across the clear, blue waters, a momentary flash of brilliant life, illuminating the world with the energy of a star. A singular moment, one wave happening to catch the light so particularly, to create such brilliance. She wondered how completely the moon would destroy its waters. Something so clear, so beautiful; it seemed eternal, the water lapping back and forth upon the shore. What magic allowed it to do that, barely touching the land, teasing it with its divine beauty before retreating back within itself? Then, she decided it didn't matter what would remain after the world ended. The moon will have obliterated all life that could find out.

Next, the mountains she had so recently left were there. Snowhead. The Mountain Smithy. The gorons. The place where she had been separated from Link for the last time. Link had been so eager to see the edge of Termina, to go through the dark cave the Skull Kid retreated to. She had told him the truth, when she and Link had been huddled in the cave, just moments before being captured. The death, the debris, the destruction. The dark sorcerer had assured her of that. Though he had orchestrated her death, Tatl could at least respect his honesty, despite the fact that it had done nothing but make her surrender- as he had wanted. A realm of shadows. She wondered if Link had made it through the cave to see for himself.

_Of course he did_, Tatl thought to herself. _He _wants_ him to make it through the cave. So of course he will_.

Tatl looked down in her bottle, but the tears would not come. The last of them had past. She looked up at the Skull Kid, who held her in his hand as he floated there. She looked at the mask.

Tatl knew the Skull Kid seemed to be just as much of a puppet as she and Link and had been, but the mask called her attention, as it always did. Could it think? Did it have a plan of its own? What if all of them, even the dark sorcerer, were merely playing Majora's game?

The orange orbs of the mask scanned all of Termina, from its vantage point atop the clock tower. She knew the imp was deciding where to go with her. It had to be some place Link would never think to look. Tatl thought it likely that Link would come to Clock Town, after his quest in Snowhead was finished, so she knew the Skull Kid would not stay here.

_But it doesn't matter_, Tatl thought to herself, as she looked up. The time loop was no longer there to save her. In thirty-two hours, the moon will have obliterated everything.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers

Guest: Thank you! But yes- I knew diverging from the main story line for such an extended period of time would not be met favorably by everyone (though it probably felt longer due to my hiatuses). It was necessary, though. I've finally gotten to a point where the original content will now be running linearly with the game's.

skullcandy60: Indeed! "Quite a bit" in answer to your wondering what happens next.

candygirl777: It does appear like something rather devastating happened in all of the areas surrounding Termina. And, where Hyrule is in relation to Termina is an interesting question as well. It definitely ties in; I've already begun threading that story line, with the cave painting of it being destroyed by a massive tsunami of some sort... hm... All questions to be answered hopefully in the near future!

SCAG: That is definitely a very interesting theory! I won't confirm or deny anything, but I'm glad you've pick up on my hinting constantly of, "What comes after Hyrule?" It's leading up to something, rather than just being a really intriguing theme I wanted to explore.

Brad: Ah, I see what you were saying! I suppose I could have written the story with a faceless moon. But that wouldn't have ended the contradictions as to what is and isn't possible in the real world. If the moon was that close, I imagine the ocean would not have remained as peaceful as it does in the game. And the natural world would probably react in a bunch of other abhorrent ways to something so catastrophic to the order of things, _before_ it crashed into the ground. But, none of those things are in the game, and the fictional story line that takes place would probably be impossible if they were. Also, taking away the face would have probably upset a lot of people, and was something I never wanted to do. It is quite iconic, and something that comes to mind whenever someone thinks of Majora's Mask.

EX-MARX: Life, I suppose? I've finally settled down for the summer, so I should have a lot more time to write now. Also, the story continues to evolve and get more complex as I write it. And it is _very_ long. I calculated the word count the other day and realized it was already more words than J.K. Rowling's longest novel. This story is quite a beast to tackle. I am doing my best, and often look forward to writing more down. The story is constantly festering in my head; it's always a relief to share it!


	32. Snowhead

Note: I know disappearing for extended periods of time isn't exactly something unusual for me, but I'm putting this note here because, for once, I know for a fact that I will not be able to continue writing until around three weeks from now. I will be out of the country until then, incapable of posting or even writing. Three weeks isn't even that long for me, but I wanted to apologize ahead of time because of how close I am to finishing this story arc. I'm getting really excited to reach chapters I've been wanting to reach for a very long time, and just wanted to let you know that I'll be eager to get back to it once I can. Even when I'm not writing, or am on a hiatus, this labyrinth of a story is on my mind all the time. I am determined to see it through. For me as well as any readers.

Any who, hope you enjoy chapter 32! More updates in July!

* * *

_Chapter 32: Snowhead_

Link laid there, dazed. He could see nothing, the entirety of his body chilled by the white mass encasing him. All of the commotion had come to an end, and for a moment, he could only lay there, motionless. He allowed his exhaustion to take hold of him.

On this day, he had made it through the dark cave connecting Termina to the wasteland. The day before, he had battled dodongos, fled from an entire nest of tektites, almost frozen to death in the snow, and lost the only friend he had left to a cloaked ReDead creature. Two days before that, Anju had died, and the entire village of Clock Town had rallied against him, calling for his blood after the Skull Kid manipulated them. He'd remembered that Zelda was dead, and that he had nothing left to return to once his time in Termina was over. The battles and the emotional turmoil, in that brief moment, overpowered him; he let them flood his mind and body, the woes of a lifetime hitting him all at once.

Then, he balled his fist, snow squished between his fingers, and those feelings were pushed from his mind.

He rose from the snow, turning to see Tael floating just where his head had popped out. The fairy was looking at him worriedly, his expression relaxing when he saw that Link was okay. Darmani's already white sideburns were filled with the chilled crystals that had fallen from the mountain top. He pulled the rest of himself out of the snow to see Gorbus beside him doing the same.

"You're... okay?" Tael asked.

"Yeah," Link said, beginning to brush himself off, a quick chill momentarily taking ahold of him. The snow was up to his knees now. He wasn't looking forward to the remainder of his trek. "Are you okay?" He asked the goron beside him, who seemed incapable of recovering from the shock of his near death experience.

He had his hand up against the wall, breathing in and out deeply as his wide eyes looked around him in disbelief. It was as if he was unable to believe he was still alive, and then his eyes found Darmani. His initial reaction was to back away, but then he seemed to remember the dead hero had just saved him.

"You..."

"I'm not really Darmani," Link admitted, looking directly at him.

"How do you wear his face, then?" Gorbus asked, caution preventing his fear from completely subsiding.

"Darmani's ghost came to me," Link began to explain, deciding he would tell the whole truth. "He asked me to bring him back to life because the 'soaring one'... whoever that is... told him that I could use magic. But I can't bring people back from the dead. The only thing I knew how to do was... heal him. I helped him move on, and it left behind this mask."

The goron only looked at him uncertainly. Link wasn't sure what else he could say, wondering if he was treading on thin ice. He remembered the people of Clock Town who had formed an angry mob against, but imagined them with goron faces. "How did you do that?"

"My ocarina," Link explained.

"No," Tael said, unexpectedly. "The mask salesman's song."

The goron turned to the purple fairy inquisitively, before turning back to the tall, strong goron who had saved his life. Link shot Tael an angry glance, warning him not to make the situation any worse. Gorbus, meanwhile, looked at the two in deep thought, contemplating before he spoke once more.

"I don't know who this mask salesman is, or how he gave you the ability to turn spirits into masks... but, you saved me." Link's pulse calmed with the direction this statement had taken, the pitchforks and torches that could have been fading from his mind. "You told me in the village that you were going to break Snowhead of its curse. Though your magic is strange..." He paused, as if the words to come were difficult to say. "... I want to trust you. Maybe, now that I have nothing left, it is in foolhardiness that I do so, but... I want to believe that all hope isn't lost."

Link allowed the words to sink in before responding. As the fear left the goron's eyes, the deep sadness began to replace them once more, a sadness that he could relate to. This goron had lost his son, and Link had lost more than his fair share of loved ones. Yet, he'd brought Gorbus hope. Though he often felt hopeless himself, this goron was living proof that he was at least doing some good. He would be dead, had Link not ventured north. He realized, sadly, that Gorbus _had_ died in the other cycles in which he hadn't gone to Snowhead.

"Why did you come this way?" Link asked, wondering if he already knew the answer.

Gorbus looked away shamefully, before turning back. "Sitting there, and doing nothing... it's so painful, to sit there and think of _him_... and how he's gone." His mouth quivered slightly, but tears did not come. "The gods already decided death in the valley was not for me, so I decided I would go to Snowhead, as you said you were going to do. Either I saved my village, or..." He trailed off, his eyes going to meet Link's directly before finishing. "... I get what I wanted to begin with."

Link shook his head, trudging over to stand just before the goron and placing his hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to do this," he said. "I'm _supposed_ to do this. I can end this curse and give you a reason to live again. You should go back to the village and help your people there, where you can. If not for them, or yourself... then for your son."

Gorbus's eyes met his with an emotional intensity, and then he nodded his head. "Thank you. You may not be the goron hero whose face you where, but... you are a hero." Link smiled, as the goron went to go backwards, along the trail away from Snowhead.

"We're even now," Link said, the goron pausing and looking back. "You saved me, and I saved you. Now I just have to pay Darmani back, by saving his village." The goron gave him a weak smile, before turning away and beginning his trek to Snowhead. Link watched for a moment as he began to disappear from view, the snow thick, before turning back to continue along the mountain wall to the goron temple.

The walking was much more difficult now that the snow on the pathway was so deep, and it was nearing midnight, with the sky still producing the blizzard. Rolling into a ball would fix problems of sensory perception, but the snow would then be taller than him. The risk of the edge was also more than he was willing to take. He could only press on, hoping that the temple would eventually come into view. It was now just he and Tael, the purple fairy silent beside him before he spoke.

"What was that about?" Link asked, his goron voice deep.

"What?"

"When I was explaining everything to him. What do you have against the mask salesman? It's just a song, and a song of _healing_."

"I don't trust him, that's all," Tael admitted.

"I understand that. But why? Weren't _you_ the one that robbed him?"

"No, the Skull Kid did. I told you that. Why do _you_ trust him?"

"He helped me," he said, the snow beginning to sting even the face of the dead goron hero. "I would have died. I fell off of the clock tower, and he saved me with that song."

"Why did he save you?"

"I... don't...," Link didn't know where he was going with this, stammering.

"Did he save you out of the goodness of his heart?"

"... I'm not sure," Link admitted, remembering their conversation underneath the tower. "He promised to heal me with my ocarina if I got him back Majora's Mask. But he did before he even checked to see if I had it, because I was about to die. He got pretty angry, though, when he found out I didn't have it."

"I don't trust anyone who wants that mask," Tael stated. "How different would things be if he had put it on instead of the Skull Kid?"

"He knew what the mask was, though," Link explained. "The Skull Kid didn't. He knows better than that."

"Why does he want it then?"

"Because of all the terrible things it's doing," he answered, beginning to grow slightly irritated. "He wants to stop it. He told me I needed to bring it back to him before it got too awful. He told me that I had to choose between the light and the dark, and that I had to stop it..."

"The light and the dark?"

"I don't know what it means. Some how, he seems to know everything, though. He... _knew_ that Tatl and I had gone back in time."

Tael's eyes narrowed for a moment, thinking hard before speaking again. "Then shouldn't he have known you didn't have Majora's Mask when he healed you?"

Link was caught off guard by this realization. The thought had never occurred to him. "Maybe... his knowledge has limits?"

"Or he lied?"

"Look, he saved my life," Link said firmly. "There _is_ something really mysterious about him, but that doesn't mean he's bent on world domination."

Tael didn't have anything to say to that, not having a response until a minute or two later. "Did he teach you the Song of Time?"

"No," Link answered. "That one's from Hyrule."

"How many times have you played it?"

Link furrowed his brow at this, beginning to think deeply as he trudged through the snow. He had played it for the first time on accident, when Tatl had died. The second time had been only after the first day, to prove to the new Tatl he was telling the truth. Then... he had spent yet another one in Clock Tower, in order to confront the Skull Kid again. After that... Woodfall? Then he'd spent the next cycle recuperating. Followed by the Skull Kid's siege on Clock Town and the subsequent day spent recovering...

Six?

"Six," Link answered, never having tallied it before. "I believe I have played the Song of Time six times. This is my seventh loop."

"So this is your twentieth day?"

"No," Link answered. "I didn't use all three days in all of them." Something else, however, continued bugging his mind. Had the moon fallen... _six times_? He had no plans for stopping the moon from falling in this cycle either – the seventh.

"Do you think the world ends each time?" Tael asked, his mind on a similar wavelength to his.

Link smiled. "That's something Tatl and I talked about more than once. I guess there's no way for us to know. We just have to keep going, as if that's not what happens."

Tael didn't have anything to say to that, allowing the silence to prevail.

At that point, the pathway began to widen, ending abruptly. Through the thick snow, what lay ahead of them came into view, and both Tael and Link stopped walking. The widened end lead off into the chasm, and the continuation of the path was across this lengthy gap. A wooden ramp ran the length of its edge, with a matching one on the other side. There was no way to cross other than to leap over the gap.

"I guess this is a Goron jump?" Link said, Darmani's eyes looking at the gap worriedly.

"I don't see how a goron could ever jump over _that_," the fairy commented, his expression worried. Link took a step back, examining his surroundings before an idea popped into his head.

"Tael," Link began. "In case this doesn't work, it was nice knowing you."

"What?" the purple fairy said, turning around to watch as Link took several steps back from the ramp, dragging his feet threw the snow to clear as wide of a path as he could, even pausing occasionally to throw some over the edge. He didn't understand what he was doing, beginning to follow him as he backtracked along the trail. "I don't think there's another way to Snowhead..."

"I'm not looking for another way." Tael looked back at the ramp before uncertainly continuing to follow Link. Then, the goron took a deep breath, rolled into a ball, and began to travel as fast as he could towards the gap.

"_Whoa!_" Tael suddenly exclaimed, quickly flying after him in a panic. "You're right- we _have_ to get to Snowhead, but- Link! _Stop!_"

He took no heed, however. Link, rolling in the path he'd created, curved alongside the mountain wall, narrowly avoiding the edge. Then he reached the ramp at a high speed, rolling up and suddenly in midair, spinning as he descended down to the other side. He barely made the lip of the ramp on the other side, his momentum carrying him several feet before the snow stopped him. Link stood tall once more as Tael flew to his side, looking strained.

"You _idiot_!" Tael yelled, Link's smile vanishing, taken back by the fairy's anger. "You could have gotten us both killed!"

Link steadily grew more confused by the fairy's response. "Both?"

Tael didn't respond at first, sighing before he looked away, shaking his head. "... You just had me worried, that's all. Don't do anything stupid like that again."

Link almost responded in the tongue-and-cheek manner he would have Tatl, but he found himself constantly being reminded that this fairy wasn't his sister. "We don't have much time left. If we're going to make it to Snowhead in time to save Tatl, we need to make decisions quickly." Link then walked off, Tael taking a moment before deciding to follow.

The chasm on the right had now officially ended. Bordered once more by a mountain wall on each side, Link and Tael no longer had the constant threat of falling over the edge. Their walkway had widened, the heavy precipitation preventing them from seeing what lay ahead. They walked in silence, each absorbed by their own thoughts.

It wasn't until something that wasn't a mountain wall, gray sky, or snow appeared in the distance that either of them said anything. "Look!" Tael exclaimed. Link went to see what the fairy had found, and then quickened his pace. As they traveled, a loud noise could be heard repeating itself in the distance; it was a sharp, loud whistling noise that was on the verge of a roar. The sound became louder with each step they took, and soon, the new area presented itself.

Link looked at it an awe, glancing down to see a sign just beside him. "Snowhead Temple. High winds ahead. Gusts and snow flurries may blow careless travelers off the cliffs."

The wide walking area they had recently found was short-lived. Up ahead, the mountain walls on both sides acting as a border ended. The thin, icy pathway snaked over a deadly chasm without anything to prevent one from slipping off at the slightest misstep. It went on for several feet, reaching a thick column standing in the middle of the black hole. On it, however, was not a small cave or empty space, as had been on previous ones; instead, a ridiculously-sized chunk of ice and rock rested on it. And, Link realized, this was the temple.

The powerful structure towered high into the air, a thin ramp ringing around from the bottom up towards the middle, where a small doorway could be seen. Spikes acting as a crown surrounded the top, Snowhead temple standing strong in relation to what surrounded it. The perilous pathway leading up to it completed the picture, it as deadly as it was beautiful.

The loud noise repeated itself once again, Link and Tael noticing a visible blast of cold air and wind bellowing over the thin pathway. It seemed to originate just in front of the temple, where the path over the chasm ended; from there, it blew mercilessly over the bridge. After a few moments, it stopped; it soon reappeared, though, giving hardly any time at all to carefully cross to the other side.

Link could only stand there for a moment, his black goron eye's wide. "We're here," Link said to himself. Had all the hardship that came before been worth it? Of all the cycles Link had been apart of, this one had seemed the longest. At its start, he was still brimming with optimism on what lay across Termina's borders. Tatl was still by his side, and the only goal in their minds was freeing the giant. Neither of them had heard of the ReDead faced creature.

"It looks dangerous," Tael commented, just as awestruck.

"Yeah," Link said, looking down before raising his head again in determination. It was the first time he'd noticed how heavy his eyes were, Link realizing he hadn't slept since just before he'd become acquainted with Tael. "But I think it's almost midnight, which means we only have thirty hours left. So we need to go."

"But that wind," Tael commented. "Even if you rolled as fast as you did earlier, you still wouldn't make it in time. And you'd probably roll off of the edge anyways. The bridge is so thin."

Link, initially determined to stubbornly resist the fairy's attempts at reasoning, realized he was right. He looked at the gusts of wind as they once again appeared, the goron moving his head to see that it seemed to be occurring separate from the stormy weather around them. "Where is that coming from?" Link asked, noticing how unnatural it was.

"I don't know," Tael said, squinting his eyes as he peered over at the temple. Both of them looked in vain, as if looking for some invisible source.

_Invisible_.

Link then had an idea. He removed his goron mask, the cold instantly gripping him as soon as he did. Shivering, his hand found the Lens of Truth in his bag, and it was placed over his eye.

It revealed the largest goron Link had ever seen. The mountain dweller was sitting comfortably on the opposite end of the bridge, almost as big as the temple at his back. The rock creature would take in a deep breath, and then blow the dangerous gusts of snow and wind forth, tumbling out to sweep away anything that tried to cross. Once it ran out of breath, the biggoron paused, catching his breath before leaning forward, inhaling, and exhaling again.

Link lowered the Lens of Truth slowly, his mouth agape. "What?!" Tael inquired, the fairy flying to get a look himself after seeing the boy's reaction. "It's-!"

"I know," he said, as he put the instrument away. His bow, even if an arrow could cut through the intense winds coming forth, would be incapable of damaging such a massive beast. Link didn't own anything else long-ranged, and realized that even if he could make it across in between breaths, the giant goron would not move for him. It would be an impossible battle, too; he would only have the tiny ledge, and such a massive creature would squash him, if he decided not to send him hurtling over the edge. "I think this is where Darmani died."

"I bet," Tael said, after a moment's reflection. "It's impossible to even get in."

"No," Link said stubbornly. "It's not. There has to be a way in."

"Unless you can fly. _I_ could get in, but the goal here is to bring you, too."

"There has to be something we can do to fight it," Link said. "_Something_."

"Gorons are pretty tough to begin with, but this one..."

"Everything has a weakness."

"Not that thing... _Din_!" Tael suddenly exclaimed furiously, turning away with clearly growing frustration. "We have to get in there."

"I know," Link said. "That's why I'm trying to figure out how to stop this giant goron from... existing."

Tael scoffed, turning to face him. "Did the mask salesman teach you a 'Stop Gorons From Existing' song, too?"

"No," Link retorted, but stopping when an idea presented itself. "But..."

"But what?"

"We do know one song that works on gorons." Link turned to Tael, smiling. The purple fairy looked down at the boy, and seemed to just then realize how exhausted he appeared. Dark pockets had begun to appear under his eyes, and he was shivering in the intensity of the snow.

"You want to try and put him to sleep?" the fairy asked.

Link, realizing how ridiculous it sounded once vocalized, turned to face the invisible biggoron. "I know it sounds bad, but that's the only idea I have." He pulled the ocarina out of his belt and put it to his lips, steadying himself from the shivering before he began to play the song he'd learned on drums.

Quickly, it came to him, and the melody was familiar to Tael as the lullaby filled the mountain valley where Snowhead Temple lay. Tael looked over to where the biggoron had been, wondering if it was working, the pleasant song soothing to his ear.

However, it suddenly became visible, this time without the Lens of Truth. The fairy's eyes went wide at its reappearance, noticing that its eyes were growing heavy, the goron leaning forward slightly into the song. The ocarina's voice soared high, Link noticing the same thing Tael had before closing his eyes once more, allowing his natural talent as a musician to take over.

The strong, icy breath had stopped, the goron at the end of the bridge no longer seeming to be able to concentrate on anything but staying awake. He caught himself before he leaned forward right off of the cliff, only to doze once more. Link continued looping the lullaby, while Tael watched, amazed at its complete control over the massive creature. The third time the goron came close to falling over, his eyes blinking heavily once more, he curled into a ball, as the goron guards had when they'd gone to sleep. Link didn't stop the song, opening his eyes to watch as the large goron slowly rolled over to the side, going over the edge and plummeting down in the deep chasm he'd sent Darmani.

Link lowered his ocarina, somewhat stunned that it had worked, Tael floating down beside him. "Whoa," the winged ball of light commented. The bridge was now clear, only the continuous downpour of snow obstructing their way.

Smiling to himself, Link put away his ocarina and turned into Darmani, walking carefully over the thin bridge to the other side, the cold not as intense on his goron skin. Tael followed closely, the tall temple growing larger with each step, casting a mighty shadow over them as they neared it.

"We made it," Link said, as soon as they crossed the bridge, looking up at its awesomeness. "We made it to Snowhead."

"Yeah, we did," Tael said, distantly and almost sadly.

Link only glanced at the fairy inquisitively rather than press the matter further, turning to walk up the ramp that would lead them to the entrance.

_I'm coming Tatl._

* * *

The first room Link entered was surprisingly small. The light of the late night hardly illuminated it, but Tael was there to help. The snow stopped a few feet into the room, cutting off where the storm could not reach. Large, almost claw-like icicles shot up from the ground, curving over to form a sort of tunnel leading to a passageway on the other end of the room, which was blocked by a heavy, stone cube. The walls, roof, and floor were all the same shade of gray, white, and blue, the room made of snow, ice, and rock. The increased warmth they'd stepped into was welcomed, however minimal. An eeriness slowly creeped upon the goron and his fairy as they came inside. He had entered the second of the temples on his journey.

"Well... we're here," Tael said, looking back over his shoulder at the gray sky outside. "Is there... a plan?"

"Search the temple," Link said, as he crossed the room. "For signs of Tatl, the ReDead thing, and a way to break the curse on Snowhead." He approached the stone block wedged firmly into the passageway leading elsewhere, his goron fists shattering the icicles blocking his access to it.

"Hmmm... This is kind of big...," Tael said, commenting on the size of the stone cube. "It's gonna take more than average strength to move this thing."

"Good thing I'm a dead goron hero," Link said smugly, grabbing it firmly on both sides with his large hands. With his fingers firmly gripping the hard stone, he pushed, the block sliding inward. He continued moving it across a smooth floor, stepping further into the passageway with each shove, until the block fell. Link had pushed it over a hole of the same size, it falling right into place and creating the doorstep used to enter the next room.

It was just as small, with only two main differences. The first was the doors present; there was one on each wall. The one across from him was frozen over by a thick layer of ice, the one to the left was wrapped in chains with a padlock firmly attached, and the one on the right was an open passageway. The second difference was the white wolfos in the center. It's red eyes were bright as it instantly pounced for the intruders.

Link instinctively curled into a ball, rolling passed the large, white wolf as it missed its prey. Its massive, thick paws sliced through the air, the nails sharp and almost ringing as they caught nothing. Tael flew high into the air, the wolfos paying no attention to him as it turned to Link, who rolled to the other side of the room and exited his ball.

The wolfos was already running on all fours to try a second attack. Its fangs were sharp and bared, its snarl savage. It leapt into the air again, landing on top of Link with its claws digging into his arms, jaws going for his throat. Link's large, rough hands prevented this, grabbing onto the wolfos's neck as it landed on him. The beast monstrously growled as it viciously sought to tear out his vocal cords, blood beginning to trickle down his brown arms from the nails hooked into them.

Link stumbled back into the wall, struggling to pull the monster off of him while protecting his head. Eventually, he overpowered it, flinging the wolfos into the wall, its red claws tearing out as its back met the chained door. The wolfos fell, stunned, but before it could scramble back to its feet, Link grabbed it by the neck again, slamming it this time headfirst into the wall.

The impact killed it, the wolfos sliding down the wall into a pool of its own blood.

Link backed away from the beast after it had been slain, examining his arms to see the deep cuts. They weren't severe, but they stung nonetheless, Link looking up to see Tael in shock.

"You... killed it," the fairy said.

"It tired to eat me," Link said defensively, not wanting to look back at the remains of the animal.

"It was just so brutal," Tael finally said, struggling to find the right words.

"I've never killed anything with my hands before," Link admitted, still facing away from his victim. He found it inevitable, however, that he would turn around, and so did. It lay limply, its head completely unrecognizable as a wolfos's. Looking at it, the sense of tiredness returned, the same he'd had just before entering the temple. He didn't no how much longer he could go without rest.

"Would it be safer to fight as a human, then?"

Link, his thoughts interrupted, turned to Tael, his eyes heavy as they made contact. "I thought about that. But this is the goron temple, and the cold might be too much."

"Whichever way you're more comfortable fighting," Tael said, finally looking away from the corpse to the three doors in the room. "I guess there's only one door to go through."

"Yep," Link said, going to the one directly behind them. "Hopefully it's not a dead end." The two passed through, Tael giving one last look to the wolfos corpse.

They stepped into a dark, cave-like passageway, it winding around in a large curve to the left and reminding them eerily of the Skull Kid's cave. Link and Tael walked through nonetheless, beginning to feel something unexpected as they ventured through: heat. After a decent walk they passed into the next room, realizing why that was.

"I don't think you have to worry about freezing to death anymore," Tael commented.

The next room was much larger than the two previous ones. Longer than it was wide, it was composed of two sides separated by a gap. The hole could be crossed by a wooden bridge, but what was underneath it had called their attention. Far, far below, after a very long fall, was bright red magma. It was too far away to possibly be debilitating, but if one were to fall, survival wasn't even a consideration. The heat from the magma had traveled down the passageway they'd come from, and they wondered how far the heat would venture through the temple on the other side.

Either way, the heating system was welcome. The only thing that wasn't was the hole in the bridge. The entire middle portion was missing, both of the ends ending at a ramp, implying another goron jump was necessary. The bridge, however, appeared old and unstable, and the consequences for missing were rather severe. The room of black stone had ledges along the side, but none allowing passages any other way than over the gap.

"But I do have to worry about burning to death in a pit of magma," Link said gloomily, finding himself growing slowly more incapable of shrugging off how tired he was. "Looks like there's only one way across."

"Or we could try one of those other doors," Tael said, looking back at the passageway they'd just gone through. "I don't think you're supposed to die in the temple."

"Supposed to?" Link asked, his brow wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"I..." Tael swallowed, before continuing. "I mean what I said. You can't die here, after everything you've worked for. Not here."

Link thought about what he said for a moment, but decided he was too tired to care much about Tael's awkward word choice. "One was chained shut and the other was frozen over. We won't be able to get through."

"... Okay," Tael said nervously. "Just be careful." He began to fly over the bridge himself, slowly, Link watching as the fairy made it to other side and turned to watch him. Link took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing all of his concentration into what he was about to do.

In his goron form, he backed away from the bridge, making sure he was aligned at its very center. He then rolled into a ball, his sensory perception sweeping the room, all the way down the room to the magma at the bottom. It became shaky there, however, the vibrations of the earth weaker where there wasn't hard rock. He did, though, feel the bridge, and after one more moment of preparation, rolled forward as fast as he could.

The sound of rock on rock changed once he made it to the wood, the creaking eerie. His great speed, however, ended it soon. He hit the ramp quickly, flying up into the air as soon as he reached it, but also bringing it down with him. The inclined end of the bridge shattered, falling down into the pit of magma as Link soared over and landed on the other side. He continued to roll until he reached the dark rock marking the end of the bridge, quickly exiting his ball and turning around. His eyes were wide, looking at the shattered end of the bridge in shock.

His heartbeat slowed down eventually, sighing as he turned back around, his adrenaline leaving him. He didn't know how many more rushes of adrenaline he could take before he collapsed. "I feel like you always cut it really close," Tael commented. "It would be nice for once if I wasn't constantly fearing for your life."

Link smiled at this, looking at the passageway on the left wall that lead to the rest of the temple. "I'm never that lucky," Link said. "Death always seems right around the corner."

"Hopefully not this one," Tael remarked, as they passed through into the next room.

While death was not what they found, the two did have to stop for a moment upon entering it. They craned their heads back in awe, taking it in.

The next room, they wagered, constituted the vast majority of the temple. It was in the same shape, a cylinder that went up into the air for hundreds of feet. Doors and ramps were along and jutting out of the wall enclosing the massive space, continuing all the way to the top. There were several floors, above and below, but Link's seemed to be the only floor connecting the doors on the opposite sides of the room. The higher floors had their doors and ramps separated by empty space, meeting in the middle, but not close enough to allow passage from one to the other. A circular, ornate tower of some sort created a floor on his level, perfectly sized and shaped so all the ramps met there. It went down into the lower floors – how far, he didn't know – but happened to stop on his level to prevent reaching a dead end.

The rooms on the top still existed and lead to somewhere, though, the two craning their heads back to look up to the very top. Caverns and doors lined the walls of this room, it a labyrinth boggling to behold. The top was the brightest, a white hue that brilliantly illuminated the lower flowers made of darker rock. As one progressed, the ice began to replace the stone.

"I have a really bad feeling I'm going to have to end up figuring out how to get up there," Link said, bringing his head back down.

"Yep," Tael replied darkly.

"But one thing a time," Link decided, exhaling irritatedly. Examining the floor he was on, which was surrounded by gaps leading to what he felt (from the heat) was another magma pit, he saw there were three notable things other than the door behind him. One was the door to his left, which was frozen over. He recognized it as the other side of the door of the room he'd first entered, realizing he'd merely taken the roundabout way. The second was the door directly across from him, which is where he was likely to go. And the third was a portion of the wall made of iron bars, rather than ice or rock. Inside, lay a door, chains, shackles, and one or two skeletons. He decided he didn't want to know what that room in the temple had been used to do, continuing across to the only free door, Tael following.

The next room was much less impressive. Though it was still larger than the first two, it was much smaller than the last. It composed of several raised platforms leading up to a door on a higher wall, Link sighing when he realized the bridges connecting them had fallen apart. Nothing else in the room was remarkable, it empty otherwise, made of rock, with the floor and platforms iced over.

"I don't think I'll be able to do this as a goron," Link said, removing his mask. The muscles and scratches on his arms, his sideburns, his rock back, and his large stomach all vanished. He was once again a young, blonde-haired blue-eyed teen, his winter jacket and pants acquired from the blacksmith still covering his green tunic. The weight of his bag, sword, and shield returned, the weight of the Razor Sword heavier than his old one. Unexpectedly, his tiredness also increased, ten-fold. Thankfully, the heat of the magma seemed to warm the majority of the temple, the cold not so bad without his thicker goron body.

"Okay," Link said to reassure himself, climbing onto the first platform. "I can do this." Tael watched skeptically. None of the platforms were high enough to result in a lethal fall, so the purple fairy merely observed to see how badly his need for sleep would effect his performance.

He jumped from the first to the second without incident, but slipped when standing on the third, coming close to falling. He caught himself, however, making it up to the fifth and final one with quite a struggle to pull himself up to its surface after grabbing onto the ledge. "Link...," Tael began.

"I'm fine," Link interrupted. _We can't stop_, he thought to himself. _We only have twenty-something hours left before Tatl dies_.

_If she isn't already dead_, a voice in the back of his head said.

_No. She isn't_. _She can't be._

"Let's just keep moving."

The next room was another cave-like passage similar to the first, curving around. He realized all the rooms of the temple surrounded the larger one in the center he'd just passed through; the passages snaking up and down made it possible to change levels. He expected goron jumping made it possible to cross floors.

The right wall of the passage, however, stopped about halfway through. Instead was a large hole, making it possible to look over the tall, cylindrical room from in between the first and second floors. The passageway continued on, but Link stopped for a moment to look out the window, looking around to see it almost made a sort of room of its own. Cave-like, it appeared to be a pitstop along the way. Residue on the floor made it seem as if that was exactly what it was, having been home to many a fire.

Tael was looking at him worriedly as he examined the room sheepishly. "Link... you have to rest," the fairy said.

"No," Link said, turning to face the continuation of the tunnel, which began when the window ended.

"Link...,"

"I shouldn't be this tired," he said stubbornly. "I've been awake for longer than this plenty of times before without a problem."

"But this is different," Tael said. "You haven't slept since the cave. The Skull Kid's evil cave, with all that dark magic and stuff. I don't think but a handful of people have ever came out of their alive, and you haven't even rested since then. That magic can really effect you. I got to rest in your bag after the Skull Kid attacked me, but..."

"We only have one day left," Link said, persistent. He was too tired to even notice that the fairy was being quite unlike himself; he'd never bothered attempting to argue with him about hardly anything before. "And the sun's going to rise in a few hours. We have-"

"To make sure we're ready when it does," Tael finished. "Please. If you die... all of Termina does. Just rest for a few hours; than we can finish what we started."

Link, finally, seemed to be thinking over what he was saying. He stared distantly at a wall, thinking, before finally nodding his head. Link wondered over to the one across from the open window, beginning to sit down with his back against it.

"I think you're right," Link said. "I just need to rest for a bit."

"Exactly," Tael said. "I never sleep for very long, so I'll make sure to wake you up when I do."

"Okay," he said, beginning to relax himself into a laying position, his head finding the softest, most dirt-like spot on the ground, using his green hat as a pillow. He faced the window, looking out on the beauty of the large temple room as he began to relax, his eyes finding Tael merely floating there looking at him oddly.

"Here," Link said, taking his bag off and scooting it closer towards the purple fairy. "You can sleep on this, so you don't have to sleep on the rock."

Tael took a moment to say anything, merely looking at the bag with an expression that was hard to read. "Thanks," he said, beginning to uncertainty fly down towards it, before finally resting on it.

Link looked at him tiredly, the fairy looking away at the temple room, deep in thought.

"I'm sorry," Link said finally, looking down at the floor in front of him as he began to sleep. "For how stubborn I can be."

Tael, initially confused, listened as he began his apology, facing away. "Whether it's about me needing sleep, finding a safer way, or the mask salesman... I just, that's how I am. Your sister never minded because she was just as stubborn... but, don't tell her I said that, because I'm sure she'd say she found it really annoying... The point is... I'm glad you're here with me. I'm really guarded and stuff, but that's only because I've lost so much. I'd hate to be alone right now, so I'm glad I'm not. So I'm sorry I sometimes seem like I'm unappreciative that you're sticking around."

There was a moment of silence, going at first to make it seem like Tael wasn't going to say anything. Link turned away, resting his head down and considering closing his eyes when the purple fairy finally responded.

"Thanks, Link," Tael said. "That means a lot."

* * *

_- 16 hours earlier -_

It was the entrance to a cave, it appearing perfectly circular. Tael stared at it for a moment, it disappearing into darkness quite quickly, the opening small and not revealing much. The wind whistled behind them as the fairy and boy looked inside, their eyes wide. The snow was still pummeling down on them relentlessly, this far north; though the purple fairy knew it would be the least of their problems as soon as they entered the Skull Kid's alleged sanctuary.

The boy tentatively took a step towards the cave, Tael fluttering uneasily beside him. They remained there for a moment longer, simply staring into its depths. Tael noticed the boy's hand go to the handle of his Razor Sword, as he slowly slid it out of its sheath. He then stepped into the darkness, blade at the ready.

Tael waited where he was as he watched the blonde teen examine the floor. He was tentatively progressing forward, the darkness seeming to suck him inward, further into its depths. Tael shakily flew just inside, eying the boy's blade and imagining it dripping with blood.

What was in there? What if the thing the boy claimed kidnapped Tatl took control of them both? What if the boy's sword became bathed in _their_ blood, the monster forcing them to slay each other? What if something far darker was in there, and would kidnap them, making their last moments the darkest fathomable? If they were tortured, mentally and physically, no one would hear their screams. They would be alone. In a cave they had wondered into on their own. All for the vague hope that Tatl _might_ be in there.

They knew for certain, however, of the darkness laying within. So why gamble a dance with such darkness for such a slim chance?

Tael, as he watched the boy inch his way further inward, finally brought himself to speak up, hardly in the cave himself.

"_Hey,_" Tael said softly, but loud enough for him to hear. He, several steps ahead of him, turned his head. "_If Tatl's down there, I don't think we can save her._" The boy didn't respond, his blue eyes only looking halfway at the purple fairy, the light of the outside narrow on his face. "_If the Skull Kid really has changed... I think it's because of whatever's down there_."

"If I die," the boy began, his voice only slightly louder than Tael's hushed whisper, "then I wouldn't have to live without them anymore. The only reason I'm still alive is so I can save Termina, and her. If I can't do either of those things...," he turned back to the cave, before looking back at Tael, "... then there's no point."

"_There could be another way_," Tael reasoned. "_You don't even know if she's down there_."

"Then don't come with me," he said, turning away. Tael only watched as he recommenced his journey across the uneven floor, balancing himself on the cave walls as he approached the corner. The fairy did not follow; the boy soon disappeared, engulfed by the darkness.

Tael waited a moment longer, staring at the last spot he'd been able to see him. Then he slowly backed out of the cave, turning around and looking in both directions; it was the same either way. The heavy snow storm blanketed everything, except the mountain peak standing tall at his back, behind which he knew lay lands outside of Termina's borders.

_Should I go back?_ Tael thought.

No. That would be ridiculous. He might not have anywhere else to go, but wasn't being lost better than being dead?

Tael began slowly flying deeper into the snow storm, going in a straight line forward, refusing to go in any other direction, less he lose his bearings. Straight ahead had to lead him south, because the cave marked the furtherest northern point in Termina.

He flew for what seemed like quite a while, with no change in the landscape. Just white. Everywhere.

_I should have followed the mountain wall back._

But there was no fixing that now. He had to keep going forward. If he so much as stopped, or looked around to see where he was going, he would be lost- in the snow, wind, and ice.

He could make out a figure up ahead. It was a dark speck on the horizon, barely visible through the thick curtain falling in a continuous downpour, the heavy white stream cascading over everything. Tael stopped, rather than eagerly flying towards the figure. It could be anybody. The purple fairy uncertainty began to fly towards the dark shape, deciding that it was in the shape of a human, but tall and hooded, appearing entirely black.

Though the person was still far away, Tael incapable of making out anything else. He wasn't entirely sure if it was even there, the snow constantly getting in his eye and causing him to blink.

And, after one particular blink, his eyes opened to find nothing there. Tael stopped flying abruptly, confused. He'd seen _something_. He thought. Though it was entirely possible he was imagining things, or that it was a trick. This far up north, crazy things happened, and you simply had to ignore them.

Tael went flying a few feet further, stopping when he thought he heard something.

_ Crunch. Crunch._

It was the sound of booted feet, walking in the snow. But there was no one nearby.

Tael spun around, but the sound stopped almost as soon as he had stopped flying, as if whatever was making the sound had realized it had been heard. The purple fairy's breathing began to increase rapidly as he looked for the source of the noise. It was then that he realized he'd turned around, which he'd constantly reminded himself not to do.

_Din._ Tatl would be nagging at him right about now. He'd lost north. Of course he had, that's something he was bound to do, because he was Tael, and he could never do anything right. Tael, the coward, and the screw-up. Except his sister wasn't there to save him this time, and getting lost in this storm for too long meant death. The cold was already getting to him; he had been out in it with the boy for quite a while.

_Crunch._

It was only one, and it sounded quite deliberate. It came from behind him.

Tael froze, almost too afraid to turn around. _It's okay. It's nothing. It's either a trick, or some small animal walking in the snow_.

But suddenly he could feel the shadow of someone behind him. Someone that was much taller than him. Someone who seemed to have suddenly appeared there, no visual cues giving its arrival away, only the audible footsteps.

Tael turned around.

Instantly, the blood in his veins froze. His wings grew stiff, rigidly trembling in place and out of his control. Every part of his body was no longer capable of movement, as if strings were attached to his limbs, and had suddenly been pulled tight. His eyes couldn't even move. They were forced into staring into the dark, endless pits that were the eyes of the ReDead face. Decaying. Cold. Lifeless. Only its face was revealed, all else concealed beneath gloves, a robe, and a hood.

Tael would have screamed if he could have, but he could not. He was forced to stare into those dark pits, his peripheral picking up the rotting features of the rest of the face. And that was the worst part. _He couldn't look away_.

"You need to go back into that cave."

It was a man. Its voice was clear, articulate, deep, and commanding; it didn't have the characteristics that a ReDead's voice would be expected to have. A ReDead could only paralyze anyways; this thing was somehow controlling him.

It was when his lips trembled that Tael realized he had control of his mouth. The thought that this thing's power was not absolute entered his head. Then, that hope faded when he decided this ReDead creature _wanted_ him to be able to move his mouth. Which was even scarier.

"I... I..."

It was what had kidnapped Tatl. And now it was going to kidnap him. It was exactly as the boy had described it- just as confusing. He was as dead as his sister.

"You are going to go into the cave." There was no question or request in his voice. It was a command.

"W-w-why?"

"Because the boy is going to die if you don't go in after him. The cave will kill him, as it does anyone who tries to make it all the way through."

"B-b-but... won't I die?" Tael felt a tear begin to fall down his cheek, as all of his muscles, except for his lips and throat, were pulled tight. He had never been so terrified in his life.

"Not when he realizes he holds the instrument that will show him what's real."

"I don't... I can't... what if..."

"Your mere presence will shatter the illusion. But you must hurry. He wasn't supposed to enter the cave, but there's nothing I can do to change that now."

Tael remained frozen in midair, the cold that much sharper without the ability to move his body, his limbs outstretched in a way that provided minimal warmth. His mind ran quickly, trying to process everything, trying to overcome his fear, trying to make sense of what was happening...

Tael had a question, debating whether or not it was safe enough to ask. He decided it was. "Why do you care if he dies?"

"You're not in a position to ask questions," the ReDead creature responded instantaneously. "He needs to reach Snowhead temple, and _you_ will make sure he does. If he doesn't, I will kill you. If he goes after Tatl instead, I will kill you. If he dies, so will you. If you don't abandon him after he reaches Snowhead, then I will kill you. If you tell him you have spoken to me, if you warn him about anything I've said, if you even give him the slightest hint, then I will kill you. And I can find you. No matter where you go."

It was then that Tael heard something. He heard a scream. It was shrill, but muffled, as if restrained, somehow. It had been in the background, but in his fear and panic, the fairy was just realizing what it was. It was hard to make out what was being shouted, but he realized with horror that it was coming from within this creature's robes.

A moment longer, and he recognized his sister's voice.

"I will rip off each of your limbs, one by one. But I will make _you_ twist them off of your body."

Tears began to fill the purple fairy's eyes with each word, but he tried to concentrate on what his sister was saying, hidden somewhere in his cloak. She had to be in a bottle, or something, her voice just barely loud enough for a few bits and pieces to be audible, if you strained your ears to listen.

"... _warn_... _don't_... _trap_... -_ock Town_..."

"Then your wings will come through the other side of your body, rather than ripping them out from the back. Next, you'll find the veins in your eyes filling with too much blood, until they burst."

"... _lies_... _warn_... _he's_... _-ower_... _waiting_..."

"But that's only the beginning. Your limbless, blind, wingless body will still be alive, and I will make its last moments more excruciating than the process it took to render you a flightless cripple without eyes. And I will take my time doing it."

"... _warn_... _trap_... _Tael!_..."

This was not part of Tatl's warning. She knew he was there; she was screaming his name, trying to get him to listen.

"Now, you will enter the cave."

"... _Tael!_... _orn him..._"

"You will make sure the boy gets out alive, and you will make sure he goes to Snowhead before anywhere else."

"... _Don't_..."

"He will free the giant, play the Song of Time, and watch all of his efforts reset."

"... _Tael!_..."

The man with the ReDead face then, without taking his eyes off of Tael, reached into his cloak. And there was silence. Tatl didn't say anything else, the creature bringing back out his gloved hand.

The purple fairy would have gulped, his tears now running freely, his mind numb with panic. "Wh-wh-what... what are you going to do with my sister?"

There was no reaction. The face really didn't seem to do anything at all, it as stiff and nonreactive as it was decaying. Seconds passed, but still, it refused to say a word.

"Can't...," Tael stopped himself before continuing. He felt his limbs trembling in this evil creature's grasp, the threats it had just made clear in his mind. But, he braced himself, continuing nonetheless. "Can't you... _let me and my sister go?_" His voice was shaking now, as he cried. The ReDead creature merely watched and listened complacently. "_Please... we'll do anything... we'll make the boy do whatever you want... I will, and then we'll leave and never come back, or say anything. I promise. You can have whatever you want. Just please, let us go_..."

The ReDead creature still said nothing. Tael, almost having given up hope, listened when he spoke again.

"There is no reason for you, or your sister to die, if you both are compliant," the hooded creature stated. "Your lives mean nothing to me, other than the roles they can play to meet my own ends. As long as you do what I ask, you and your sister will survive."

Tael continued shaking, his mind still racing.

"You will make sure he goes to Snowhead. And then you will wound him, by leaving him behind. But he will continue on, and save the gorons. Then, he will play his song, abandon his fairy, and realize that everything he did was in vain. He will be once again alone, as he is always meant to be. His emotional attachments must all be removed from his life. You and your sister will not return to the first day with him. You will wait until the moon has fallen, and if your sister is intelligent enough to fly above the explosion, you will find her."

Tael didn't say anything, his tears beginning to stop. Underneath his overwhelming fear was the slightest sense of hope.

"As long as you oversee the boy's passage to Snowhead, and betray him, then I will not find you, and kill you," the ReDead creature said. "Don't think, for even a moment, there's an alternative resulting in you and your sister keeping your lives. Remember how powerless you feel right now. You are always under my control, no matter where you are. I, the dark sorcerer, will rise from the shadows and slay you if you disobey me. And that is all there is to it."

Suddenly, Tael's limbs relaxed. He felt them come down on their own, sore and no longer held in the air by that invisible force. The purple fairy, however, felt himself helpless to turn away from the creature's eyes. He couldn't look away from the dark pits, even when the ability had been given back to him.

The ReDead creature was the one who turned away. Lowering his head, the hooded being walked into the distance, his booted foot steps audible in the snow.

_Crunch. Crunch._

Tael could only stare after him and watch. The creature was several feet away before he stopped walking. With his back to the purple fairy, he hunched down, as if to pick something up off of the ground, and then vanished into thin air. He left no trace behind, other than his foot prints.

Tael, now alone, could only remain floating in the air, in shock.

The snow had begun to lighten. Tael could see the mountain now in the distance. Somewhere along the line, he'd gotten mixed up, and had been heading back the way he'd came.

The purple fairy began to fly towards the cave, speechless, a mere zombie. He stopped, however, blinking dazedly.

_Focus. Focus. If he sees you like this, he'll no something's wrong. You have to do this. For Tatl. It can't be stopped. The boy can't save her; only I can._

He began flying slowly towards the cave, wiping his eyes. Then, he realized he didn't know the boy's name. He didn't know his name, yet he was about to earn his trust, and then betray him.

_It's not my fault. There's nothing we can do to fight it... to fight... the dark sorcerer_.

Tael, now determined to ensure what remained of his family's survival, flew to enter the Skull Kid's sanctuary.

* * *

_- The Present -_

Tael awoke on Link's bag. The fairy, lifting his head slowly, looked up to see him still curled into a ball against the wall. His eyes were closed, breathing in and out deeply as he got his much-needed rest.

The purple fairy looked away from him, his eyes threatening to fill with tears. But he refused to let that happen. Tael rose slowly and silently, floating to be in the air and just in front of the hole overlooking the cylindrical room. He looked up to the top, at the door Link had jested he might have to reach. He smiled at the thought of the joke, but the smile slowly faded.

Then Tael looked back at the boy. This was his one last chance for him to change his mind, to stay and brave the dark sorcerer, to help Link in whatever plans the creature had in store for him. Tael could wake him now, and tell him everything. Just maybe they had a fighting chance.

But that wasn't a risk the fairy was willing to take.

"I'm sorry, Link," Tael said, whispering, but talking only to himself. "But I'm trying to save Tatl too."

Then he turned and left, leaving the boy behind.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Random Guy (Chapters 1, 9, 11, 26, 27, and 31): Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm glad you're liking this adaptation as well as the other ones you've read. And terrifying definitely describes the circumstances for some of the characters right now.

lotr fan: Haha, nice reference! Though I've been running on a strict no spoiler policy, I unfortunately have to confirm that Link will not be flinging his scar into Mount Doom at the end. For logistic reasons, and narrative. But mainly logistics.

Guest: Oooh, I bet! Time's End will always give my the chills. I tried once or twice to listen to it while writing, but I was unfortunately too terrified to continue with that playing in the background.

Santiago: Thank you very much! I'm touched by your review. Writing is something I've always been passionate about, and I hope one day to have an idea for a story that will allow me to do something with it. I'm pretty nostalgic of this game in particular, though, and I'm glad you think I'm doing it justice. But you could put your worry to rest about me abandoning it! The only thing that would render this story forever incomplete would be if something happened to me before I could finish it; no matter how long it takes, I will finish this monster of a narrative. I've spent almost three years on this, and don't plan on giving up. I just hope that time lapses haven't lost me too many readers. And that would be incredible, but I've never dared even think that was a possibility... I'm honestly not too much of a fan of the anime art style, but that does seem to be how most of the non-canonical Zelda adaptations are portrayed. I appreciate the review though, and hope you like all the material to come!


	33. A Breath of Ice

Note: It turns out I was able to return to writing sooner than expected. Hope you enjoy this chapter! The finale to this "Third Section" of the story is not far away.

* * *

_Chapter 33: A Breath of Ice_

"You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you?"

The question hurt him deeply, and he found it hard to meet the princess's eyes, looking away at his steed that stood beside him.

"I'm... sorry," he stammered. "I have to find her; she meant more to me than I could ever really explain, and then she just left."

The door knob was cold as his hand grasped it, pushing the door open.

"I'll never forgot the days we spent together in Hyrule, Link. And I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again. Until that day comes, please... Take this..." She handed him the deep sea blue ocarina, Link uncertain whether he should take it.

The tears were already falling as he began to approach the bed. Her bedroom was large and beautiful, the bed itself elegant. His eyes hardly noticed the guards and royalty surrounding her. Instead, they found only his beloved, lying still. The room had begun to darken as the day turned to night.

"I am praying... I am praying that your journey be a safe one."

Her eyes were closed, her long, golden hair underneath her. Link walked to be just beside her, his shoulders shuddering as he looked down upon her beautiful face. It was pale, and shrunken, it devoid of life. His hand found hers, but the fingers refused to react to his touch.

"Please don't forget me; don't forget Hyrule. You'll come back, won't you?"

"_I'm sorry, Zelda_," he said, his voice shaking. He pulled her hand up to his forehead, as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain. "_I came back, but I was too late. I'm sorry. I'm sorry_..."

Link groaned as he opened his eyes from his dream-infested sleep. He was lying against a tall, strong tree that made up the forest he was currently in, the trees' tops creating a canopy of darkness in the wooded area, Link unable to tell if it was night or day. He sat up, his long, green, funnel shaped hat still up against the tree, having served as his pillow, while the ocarina rest in his left hand. Looking at it, Link remembered that he'd been dreaming of the day he'd left Hyrule; the day he'd said good-bye to Zelda, on her death bed and on the drawbridge the last time he'd seen her alive. This ocarina and Epona were now the only two relics of that life, and he had vowed to never let either leave his sight, lest he lose those days forever.

Link stood up, brushing off the now dirty lower half of his tunic as he got to his feet. He looked around in the misty darkness of the unknown forest, wondering how much longer he would be traveling through it. His second journey out of Hyrule had been completed, and he was now on the other side of Death Mountain, passed the northern border. He remembered the first time. He had just made it across when the messenger had stopped him, with news of the disease Zelda had caught. He'd turned back, rushing to make it before it was too late.

But this time, no message had come. This time, he had continued across.

It wasn't until Epona neighed that he snapped out of his trance, realizing he had been staring off into the dense trees, his eyes blank and emotionless. Every step he took felt empty, and every breath hollow. There was no point. Everything he had ever held dear to him was lost. Yet, for some reason, he kept going. He looked down to his belt, at the bag of Deku nuts, opening them and popping a few into his mouth, going over to pet Epona. "Hey girl." His voice was sad, the growing depression inside of him hard to hide. "Did you sleep well?"

Epona buzzed her lips in response, bending her head down away from his hand to the bucket that was at the base of the tree she was reined to. The pail was now void of all water, and Link picked it up and walked towards the small stream they'd decided to rest beside. "I'll fill it up again; don't worry."

As Link bent down to fill the container with water, he heard a familiar noise behind him. It was a sort of twinkling, chime like sound that faded quickly, but it was filled with some characteristic of life. He spun around on his feet quickly, dropping the pail of water and letting it spill out back into the stream. "_Navi?_"

However, nothing was there. Link looked back and forth, in search of the noise, even rounding the trees around his small camp to see if anything was flying away. The small flame of hope that had opened up inside of him slowly began to die away, and he looked down and shook his head.

"Come on, Epona," Link said, walking over to her reins, and suddenly having the uncontrollable urge to start moving again.

Soon, Link once again found himself riding alone through the misty forest, in its mysterious, seemingly lifeless darkness. Other than the twinkling noise he'd heard earlier, the only other things that echoed through the forest were Epona's footsteps on the harsh, twig infested grass. They pushed on, nonetheless, Link wondering if there was any point in continuing through these uncharted territories.

_Thomp... thomp... thomp... thomp..._

The horse's footsteps kept their rhythmic tempo, and Link felt his head bobbing with it, his eyes growing heavier and heavier...

"... The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you! Link, get up!..."

"I don't want to," said Link, going further and further into his half-sleep, the first time he had ever met Navi replaying in his memory as Epona trudged forever onward through the forest. "I'm... I'm... too tired... I had a bad dream..."

"Hey! C'mon! Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?"

"What do you mean... Hyrule's..."

"Link, get up!"

"Navi, I can't..."

"_Link, get up!_"

Suddenly, Epona whined loudly and reared up on her hind legs, and Link's eyes shot open in surprise. He instinctively grasped for his horse's reigns wildly, his fingertips barely grabbing ahold of them and steadying himself. His eyes were just beginning to readjust to the world around him when he noticed the bright ball of white light in front of his face. It was a fairy, her face stressed and panicked, looking at him worriedly. _It was Navi._

"Link!" his guardian fairy exclaimed, appearing frightened as she observed that he was still not quite awake. "You have to get up! He's here!"

Link was confused, his mind reeling. His eyes widened in shock when he realized who was in front of him, but something else happened before he could comment on the matter. Epona suddenly stopped moving, stiff, Link feeling her trembling terribly underneath him. The change was abrupt, looking up to see a hooded figure not but several feet in front of them. The person was garbed from head to toe in black, a hood thrown over its face, appearing to be staring intently at his horse. The figure was tall, all features hidden from view.

Navi, when she seemed to realize what was happening for herself, spun around, her eyes finding the cloaked figure as well. "_No!_" she screamed, her voice shrill. Awareness was finally starting to come back to Link, his mind barely able to take in what was happening. He sensed danger, pulling on his reigns but noticing no reaction from Epona. His eyes were scared as they looked back up at Navi, who'd turned away from him and was flying to be just in front of him and his horse, looking directly at whoever was in front of them.

"Navi?" Link said, confused. Neither of them had greeted each other, his horse couldn't move, and some mysterious figure was in front of them. What was happening? At what point in his sleep had the calm of the forest across Hyrule's borders ended?

"_You said you'd leave him alone!_" Navi screamed, addressing the dark figure before them. "_You promised you wouldn't hurt him, you liar! Get out of here! Get out of here and never come near him again!_" Suddenly, the cloaked figure abruptly turned away from Epona, his hood going to look directly at his fairy.

The second the figure turned away from his horse, she seemed to regain movement again. The horse's initial response was to rear high into the air on her hind legs again, this sudden reaction catching Link by complete surprise. The reins were gone from his hands and he was spinning through the air, his horse neighing shrilly in pain. In the distance he heard a sickening snapping sound. Moments later, his back slammed into the forest ground painfully.

Epona fled from the scene in terror, leaving behind the three of them as she dashed through the forest. Link, out of breath, struggled to rise to his feet as quickly as he could. His eyes first found Navi falling to the ground; her light had gone out, the dull gray ball falling down limply. His eyes then found the hooded figure standing before him, who'd turned to face him.

He saw its face for the first time, and suddenly the blood in his veins frozen, incapable of movement and stuck in the position he was in the moment he made eye contact. It had the face of a ReDead, decaying, its eyes dark pits...

The hooded figure began to walk slowly towards him, Link unable to do anything about it, his eyes stuck staring into the depths of the eye sockets. The look from them began to grow intense, its grip seeming to intensify. Pain began to fill him, but he could not squeeze his eyes shut or groan; all he could do was continue staring into the hood. A second before his head exploded with pain, he thought he saw a pair of eyes hidden in those deep pits, as if they were hidden beneath the surface of the ReDead face.

Then the world around him spun, his vision blurring instantly as his ears rang, the pain in his head extraordinary. He collapsed to his knees, his vision not clearing in the slightest as his attacker came closer. Link fell to his side, losing consciousness as the figure stared at his fallen body.

The two were venturing across the vast, seemingly endless field of Hyrule.

"Navi, what do you think is going to be here after Hyrule?"

"What do you mean... after Hyrule?"

"_You said you'd leave him alone!_ _You promised you wouldn't hurt him, you liar! Get out of here! Get out of here and never come near him again!_"

Consciousness returned to Link for a brief moment one last time. He was lying on his stomach on Epona, ropes securing him tightly to his horse. Epona was walking calmly forward, Link lifting his head to see the cloaked figure who had knocked him out. It was facing away from him, the horse's reins in its gloved hands, leading her calmly onward.

They were on a rocky cliff, the forest to their right, and a sharp edge on their left, a stormy body of water splashing up onto the cliff and dashing the rocks with water. Up ahead was a small shack, it gray and feeble, the structure weathered and ancient. The figure seemed to be approaching it, but Link was unable to discover anymore, his head falling limply back down onto his horse, consciousness fading again.

"I'll never forgot the days we spent together in Hyrule, Link. And I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again."

"I'm just trying to help."

Suddenly, Link felt odd. The sensation of falling began to overtake him, in the darkness of his unconscious state. He plunged down, down into the depths of the nonexistent hole, in the complete darkness. He continued to fall, no bottom anywhere in the near future and no top having been in the past. His eyes opened, and he realized that he _was_ falling. The dreams had stopped, and he had awoken to find himself in this horrible reality.

He lost his stomach as he fell, letting out a scream as he plunged further blindly. Link soon lost his breath and was falling without sound, descending deeper and deeper. Then, a gradual feeling began to fill him... a feeling of change, of some sort of odd occurrence. Visions began to flash across his mind, and he saw what appeared to be an endless procession of faces and places played out in front of him over and over again. He saw them repetitively, the same things, the same people, the same actions, as if he was entering some loop that never ended; repeating back to the beginning every time.

The feeling intensified, until suddenly it felt like it was a _part_ of him. It was still there, but now it had grasped onto him, and he had been forced to accept it and call it his own, never again to be rid of it. The entire time he continued spinning through the air, and then...

He stopped falling.

* * *

Link opened his eyes. They found the cave wall, his back to the open window overlooking Snowhead temple's main room. He laid there for a moment, his head resting against the green hat acting as his pillow. He stared at the wall thoughtfully, his blonde hair messed up from sleep. His dark blue eyes were concerned as his mind strained to process what he had just dreamt.

It only came to him in bits and pieces when he tried to remember it. Navi had been there, even though he hadn't dreamt of her in quite a while, and, unexpectedly, the ReDead creature and Zelda had been apart of it too. Somehow all of these images had intermingled confusingly, Link eventually deciding it had been his brain mixing up events. He could hardly recall it anyways, the narrative already slipping from his mind as he continued to awake.

Link, yawning, rolled over to see if Tael was still sleeping. However, all he found was his bag, the purple fairy no longer lying on top of it. He sat up when a quick sweep of the room found nothing, Link backing up to sit against the wall and worriedly looking around. Tael was no where to be found.

"Tael?" Link inquired, stumbling to his feet. Then, he began to wonder exactly how long he'd been asleep, panic gripping him when he realized he could have over slept, especially if something had happened to prevent Tael from waking him.

The ground suddenly shook, Link grabbing onto the wall when he almost fell over. As the entire temple continued to tremor, he recognized this as an earthquake. They always happened periodically throughout the third day. Which meant it was no longer the night of the second.

_No_. How far into that day was it? Exactly how many hours had been lost? There was no way of knowing, but when the earthquake ended, he quickly placed his hat on his head and threw his bag over his shoulders, now wide awake and determined to make up for lost time.

He looked around the room a last time for Tael. There was no trace of the fairy anywhere. If anything had kidnapped him, it had for some reason left himself completely untouched, and it was unlike Tael to venture off on his own...

And then, it hit him. Tael had left him. Link's mind went back to how oddly the purple fairy had been acting ever since they'd reached Snowhead, but he hadn't bothered pushing the matter. This was especially true just before he'd gone to sleep, but Link had pushed it from his mind and rolled over to finally rest. The entire time, Tael had been contemplating abandoning him. And that was the decision he had made, without a good-bye, waiting to have an avenue to do so. Him sleeping had turned out to be the perfect opportunity, which is why he'd been so persistent on him resting.

Whether for fear out of what was to come or lack of hope in Link's cause, Tael was gone. It pained him, Link's chest aching when he realized he was once again alone. He stood there for a moment, staring out into space distantly. He remembered the first Tatl dying on his chest, this one getting kidnapped, the ground exploding underneath Anju's feet, Epona being taken, Navi leaving him behind in the Temple of Time, Zelda lying dead, and now Tael abandoning him... but he could not let these memories delay him any longer.

Tael may have left him, but there was still one person in Termina who needed his help. And he refused to let Tatl down.

Link looked at the large room, hoping to catch something he'd missed, before passing through the tunnel continuing to wrap upward around the cylinder. The light of that room faded, replaced by the darkness of the cave, his booted feet passing up the incline. His hand went into his bag to retrieve the stale, cold bread, or what was left of it. It was almost painful to bite into, but he made himself chew and swallow as he walked, the hunger having returned hardly satisfied.

He came upon the cylindrical room once more, Link swallowing his last bite of stale bread and washing it down with water. He was a level higher than he had been when first entering the room, now on one of the long ramps ending abruptly in the center of the room. There was another one sticking out of the wall across from him, as well as to his left and right. None of them met in the middle; however, each ended in a sharp incline upward, to allow gorons to at least travel vertically. The stone ramp was covered in a thick sheet of ice, strong and thick; it would easily support his weight as Darmani.

Link was nostalgic of having a fairy by his side to warn him how dangerous this was going to be. If he didn't roll straightforward, the slightest veering would result in him flying over the edge, Navi would tell him. If he hesitated when approaching the end, he wouldn't gain enough momentum, and would miss, falling down to reach the magma far below, Tatl would argue. There had to be another way across, that would allow for a safer passage, not causing him to risk his life or put at jeopardy his quest, Tael would caution him.

But Tael had left him. _Then why was he so persistent that I reach Snowhead?_ The purple fairy's general oddness could be explained by his intentions to abandon Link, but why had it taken him so long? One explanation was that it had taken him a while to find the courage to do it, but it was partly the fairy's reasoning that had kept him on track to freeing the final giant, rather than sidetracking in search of Tatl. And Tael had stuck to that the entire time, even after he must have contemplated ditching him. Maybe the fairy had wanted to make sure he would still save Snowhead, after his departure. But Link wasn't sure Tael had believed in his cause strongly enough to ensure its success, after deciding his time was better spent elsewhere.

Link applied the goron mask, but it was Darmani who rolled into the goron ball. Having made sure to face the edge perfectly straightforward, he rolled at full speed, hitting the edge and arcing high into air. Link reached the lip on the other side, rolling several feet on the slick ice before generating enough traction to come to a stop.

He soon found that the doorway on this wall was frozen shut, ice preventing access to the upward sloping cave on the other side. It seemed solid, Link knowing it would take a long time to hack it away with his sword. He looked to his right to see the circular wall bulging out at his level, covered in snow and making travel to the adjacent ramp possible. It was far too steep to walk across, Link knowing he would have to roll quickly. Pausing for a moment would cause him to slide off, and a perfect curve would be necessary less he roll off or hit the hard wall backing the slope.

Deciding the slope had enough traction, Link eyed it for a moment longer before returning to his ball, rolling around the ledge to the other ramp. The other sense revealed to him the edge he'd momentarily hung over, which had caused his heart to stop in fear. He made it to the other side, regardless, rolling out of his ball to observe his new situation.

There was a thick, stone door just beside him and one across from him on the other ramp. Neither were hindered by ice, bars, or chains, and both seemed liftable in his goron form. The choice was his, Link hoping one of them possessed his trapped giant, or a pathway to it, which he assumed would be trapped in another mask.

Link at first turned to the door behind him, pausing when his gut told him to fly across the room once more, to see what was on the other side first. And so he did just that, landing on the lip opposite him and leaving his ball just in front of the new door. His gloved goron hands pushed hard on the surface and lifted it up, until there was enough space for him to put his hands underneath and slide it through the groove above. Link slipped underneath into the room on the other side, letting the door fall back into place behind him.

But he wasn't alone.

An old man stood in the center of the room, or what might have been a man at some point in its existence. The skeletal, emaciated creature seemed less human the more his eyes examined it, though its age was evident. The creature had a long, drawn face, its eyes yellow and immediately finding him as he stepped into the room. A staff taller than himself was in his right hand, the top of it glowing a bright blue. His skin was a darker shade of blue, sorcerer's robes adorning him from the neck down. Brown linen, they were golden hemmed, coming down on the sleeves just short of his hands. He stared at him solemnly, his stare unmoving.

"Who are you?" it demanded, his voice cracked and ancient. A patch of white hair was on top of its head, a thick white beard covering its jaw.

"I'm-," Link stopped short, standing tall and regaining his statuesque composure as he did so. "... Darmani the Third."

The room wasn't all that large, it square and stone. The walls had images of goron warriors in battle, though only archers were depicted, their bows drawn tight with arrows poised to strike down wolfos, bears, and a manner of other wildlife. In some cases, the arrows were already flying through the air, some already stuck in their victims. Several of the savage mountain fauna were set aflame, frozen solid, or afflicted by some burning, golden light, while others simply bled to death, the gorons triumphant on all four sides. The center of the room was decorated with a golden square on the floor, a painting of a ball of fire, ice, and light swirling around one another. The old man stood on top of it.

"Why are you here, Darmani the Third?" The glowing blue light on the end of his staff pulsated, white lines dancing around it. The yellow eyes still bared into his own, the gaunt face hard to read.

"This is Snowhead Temple, and it belongs to the gorons," Link said, cautiously finding words. "I came here to free it of its curse. I am a hero to the people."

"A hero?" the creature inquired, smiling interestedly. "Do you know what a wizzrobe is?"

Link's brow narrowed uncertainly. "No."

"Then I guess you won't be expecting this." The creature pointed its staff at Link, his eyes widening as a ball of blue light flew towards him. It cut through the air, striking Link in the chest before he had time to react. A thick wall of ice surrounded him, only having time to bring his hands up to his face before his entire body was encased. The cold gripped him immediately, the icy surface cutting through the warmth of his goron body, preventing movement.

His eyes peered through the thick sheet of ice at the wizzrobe before him, his mouth slightly agape and hand on his face. His heart fettered nervously in his chest as his brain reeled, unable to do anything but watch as the wizzrobe approached him, the staff clanking on the stone with each step.

"I needed more gems, but the goron armory only had two left," the blue creature explained, cloak swirling behind him. Link's heart beat began to slower despite the nerves, his body temperature falling drastically, feeling his mind growing numb as the magical being continued to approach him. The cold felt like needles cutting through his skin, the pain sharp and everywhere. "Be glad I chose ice, or your death would have been in an agonizing inferno instead."

The wizzrobe stopped when they were inches apart, his nose barely kept from touching the block of ice surrounding Link. He tried to fight the effects of the cold, but he knew it was useless. He couldn't move his arms, legs, or any part of his body, for that matter. His mind flashed to the ReDead creature, the dark pits it had for eyes freezing the blood in his veins. He remembered the pain, as his body had been under its control, as it had forced its grip into his head to cause him to become unconscious.

_Twice._

He remembered. Navi had awoken him from his doze while riding Epona. Before they could speak, the ReDead creature had taken a hold of his horse, but it had turned on Navi when she started yelling at it. There had been a horrible snapping noise before he'd been taken hostage...

_Navi's neck._

Link's mind continued to numb, as the memories filled his vision and the wizzrobe staring at him through the thick ice slowly faded from view.

The ReDead creature had been in Hyrule. And somehow it had followed him to Termina. Tatl and Tael ambushing him... holding onto his horse as he ran... the slender cut in his leg... the hole he'd run into... all of that seemed a dream...

_No._ He felt his mind slipping away, but he had to focus. He was going to die. The cold would kill him. It was killing him.

_Focus. Focus._ The pain was vanishing, but so was the world around him, his mind rambling as it struggled to stay awake. He strained his eyes to concentrate on the wizzrobe, hardly feeling his own fingers on his face.

_That's it._ Link used the last bit of consciousness he had left to will the mask off of his face, using all of his strength to barely twitch his fingers.

There was a flash of light. It completely enveloped the block of ice, the wizzrobe stumbling backward and using his staff to prevent himself from falling over. As it struggled back to its feet, its face shocked, the light quickly disappeared, revealing a blonde boy in a green hat and brown winter clothing instead.

The goron mask was in his hand, the ice now gone, and Link collapsed to the floor, all of the energy zapped out of him. All of the warmth of his body and suddenly returned to him, and the shock it put on his mind caused him to momentarily black out.

"A sorcerer," the wizzrobe stammered in awe, his mouth and eyes wide as Link looked up. The magical creature was already pulling its staff back for a second ball of ice, but Link pushed himself to his feet with what little strength he possessed. He could only stay on his feet for a moment, stumbling onto the ground just far enough for the attack to explode behind him, the cold of the missed strike still blowing over him.

Breathing in and out heavily on the ground, Link drew his sword, throwing at the wizzrobe and collapsing back down on to his face. His mind was still reeling, every muscle exhausted, but he had been able to throw what little energy he did have into this attack.

The wizzrobe, who had been drawing back its staff again, vanished just as the sword reached itself. It appeared on the other side of the room, releasing its ball of ice magic to go just passed Link. He wouldn't have been able to dodge it anyways, just then getting to his feet to see where it had traveled instead. The instant the tip of his sword hit the stone wall on the other side of the room, the ball of magic hit it, freezing it to the wall jutting out perfectly straight, before it could bounce back onto the floor.

Link, now afoot after a moment's rest, rolled out of the way of the next attack, returning to his feet to find the wizzrobe vanished again, but this time not reappearing. His eyes went to the his sword instead. The block of ice surrounding it had it completely encased. He was now without the Razor Sword, turning when he saw the wizzrobe behind him.

Its cloak swished around its ankles as it reappeared, its yellow eyes staring into Link's dark blue ones once again. This time, there was no ice barrier to separate them, and each knew the other as the enemy. "Was that your only magic trick?" the wizzrobe inquired, the twisted smile returning to his lips. Link didn't respond. "I'm afraid that doesn't bode well for you, Darmani the Third." He raised his staff again, and Link prepared to roll out of the way, but it, once again, wasn't aimed at him.

The ball of ice landed just in front of the wizzrobe, the creature keeping its staff pointed at the floor as it stared intently at the aura of ice beginning to collect there. When it passed, a wolfos jumped from it- but it was a wolfos devoid of flesh. It was made entirely of ice, clear and glittering in the light pouring from the open roof; its yellow eyes found Link, nails and teeth as sharp as its animal counterpart.

Link's initial thought was to reach for his sword, but he quickly remembered it wasn't there. The beast of ice ran on all fours to attack Link, its arms and shoulders moving fluidly, as if it were flesh, blood, bone, and fur. Another ball of magic came from behind it, aimed at Link. He barrel rolled out of the way as the wolfos went to pounce on him.

He heard the ice crash in the spot he'd been standing as he held his shield out in front of him. He felt the cool air the explosion breathed as the slender dog wrapped its icy paws around the metal shield, tearing savagely at Link with only his relic from Hyrule separating him from death. One claw caught his left shoulder, and suddenly red was speckled against the clear surface of the sparkling wolf's paw. Link, baring his teeth in pain and struggling with the weight of the beast reaching to tear out his throat, managed to apply the goron mask with his free hand.

His shield disappeared with his human form, and so the wolfos fell to the floor at his feet, looking up as Link grabbed itself around the waist and slammed its head into the wall. The beautiful creature's head was split in half, the right side of its face shattering and causing ice crystals to fall to the ground. The yellow light left its eyes, and it fell apart in his hands, the ice that gathered on the floor now lifeless.

Link spared no time to celebrate his victory, looking over to see the wizzrobe had cast yet another spell just in front of itself, having held it this time for much longer. From out of the mist jumped four beasts identical to the one he'd just killed, each looking at the prey it sought to kill for no other reason than obeying its creator.

They approached him in a pack, Link realizing he would only be capable of holding off one at a time, in either form, less he suffer the sting of their icy claws. He took a step backward as they ran at him, Link deciding at the last second to curl into a ball right next to the wall. The wolfos attacked his hard rock back at the same time, slashing at the rock to only produce ear grating scraping sounds. Their force began to turn him, Link knowing his soft underbelly did not stand a chance.

In a moment when all four were slashing at him, Link flung his rolled goron body into the air, the ice wolves clinging to him to be brought up with him. He turned so his hard back and their bodies were smashed into the stone, when he descended forcefully to perform a goron pound. Their bodies shattered simultaneously, the fleshless wolfos shattering into a million shiny pieces.

Link initially began to return from his ball, when his extra sense revealed to him the wizzrobe's staff was being drawn back. He rolled several feet away, the cold breath of air escaping as it crashed behind him. Link returned to his full goron form to face the wizzrobe, who was safely across the room. "You won't be leaving this room alive as a goron or a boy, by tiring yourself out like that."

It cast another spell at the doorway, which was suddenly blocked by ice, much as the other doors that Link had encountered throughout the temple. Link returned its stare, wondering what its next move would be. Link knew he didn't stand a chance against it in his goron form; rolling into and out of a ball was tiring, and he could never reach it if it continued to vanish. He removed his mask for his hand to find his bow, as the wizzrobe disappeared and was suddenly behind him again.

Link side-stepped the explosion of ice, notching an arrow and turning to fire it. It traveled through thin air when the wizzrobe was gone again, bouncing off of the stone wall and clattering to the floor. Link notched another, expecting its reappearance. What he had not expected was it reappearing four times.

Four identical wizzrobes were surrounding him at different corners of the room. He lowered his bow slightly, confused as he went back and forth between them. "You're not much of a hero if you can't tell your enemy from his illusions." The voice echoed terribly, the four beings speaking split seconds apart from one another to create a terrible effect.

Link released the arrow, and it traveled straight through the heart of one. It hit the wall on the other side, the false wizzrobe vanishing into a wisp of icy smoke. His mind went to the Lens of Truth, but he knew he could not handle it and his bow.

"Darmani the Third will die tonight, and the masked imp will bury his people beneath the moon."

Link nervously went back and forth between them, his eyes wide as the voices bounced around in his head. He released another arrow, with the same effect. There was a clank, and the illusion was gone, Link notching yet another one as it spoke once more.

"Murdered by a thief ransacking his stolen temple." His ear caught which one had spoken in the first split second, spinning around suddenly and releasing the arrow simultaneously. His aim was slightly off, but the wizzrobe vanished regardless, it missing as the others had, the last illusion disappearing with him.

Then Link was hit across the head with the end of the wizzrobe's staff, who had appeared behind him. Link fell on his face, and he turned around to draw his shield as it raised its staff. The spell that came this time was a beam of ice, it striking the shield and pushing it back towards Link's face. Link winced from behind his piece of protection, the cold unbearable even with the shield to separate him from it. The beam was continuous, coming from the staff as the wizzrobe willed the magic to come out faster.

Link, from behind the shield, knew he wouldn't be able to hold it back much longer. He heard his shield tensing as it began to freeze, the ice spreading across its surface to eventually reach the side he was hiding behind, coming closer to making contact with his skin.

The wizzrobe merely pushed harder, the stream of continuous ice magic filling the room with white light and mist, fallen arrows and the remains of the five ice wolfos lying scattered. The magic creature knew it only had a moment longer before it would over power him, and that's why it came as a surprise when the shield fell early. Something that wasn't a goron or a boy rolled out from behind it.

The Deku scrub released a ball of green goop from its snout, it hitting the wizzrobe in the face. The magic creature stumbled backward, its free hand going to its face as the stream of magic ended, Link's frozen shield falling to the floor.

The wizzrobe instinctively waved his staff again. Though he was blinded, and his aim was far off as he wiped the bubble of muck from his face. He looked up to find the boy again, arrow notched and already pointed at him. Link released the string.

The arrow went straight through the wizzrobe's mid-section, it opening its mouth in shock, yet vanishing nonetheless. Link turned when he saw it appear behind him, bent over now with its hand over its wound. Illusions began to conjure themselves around him, but they were wavy and not convincing, each bent over and unable to come fully into existence. Link pulled another arrow from his bag and launched it into the wizzrobe's chest.

The lame illusions all disappeared into smoke, the wizzrobe stumbling backward as he pointed his staff at the floor. He fell against the wall, using it for support as he kept his staff aimed at the ground. Link pulled out another arrow and notched it when an ice wolfos crawled from the created mist. It, however, was missing two hind legs, the poorly created creature dragging itself with its front paws, its eyes coming into existence wide with terror.

Link fired a third arrow into the other side of the wizzrobe's chest, it gasping for air again, the staff falling from its hands and hitting the stone. The wizzrobe fell to its knees, looking up at Link as the ice wolfos continued crawling after the boy.

"You were wrong," Link said, his eyes hard and cold as he stared at his dying enemy. "I had one more magic trick."

The old blue man seemed to be trying to say something in response, but only blood gurgled from its mouth, instead of words. Dark stains had begun to show on its robes, where the arrows had been driven through him. Then the wizzrobe fell onto his face, pushing the three arrows further through him or else snapping them in half, twitching once more before laying motionless. Blood began to pull around him, the ice wolfos falling apart as soon as its master died, only half way in its journey towards Link.

The blonde boy stood panting, victorious as he lowered his bow and stared at his fallen enemy. He gave himself a moment to recuperate, closing his eyes and thankful he had avoided yet another close call.

It was an earthquake that startled him. Link lost his footing but managed to regain it before he fell, his eyes now open as he suffered the worst of the quakes yet; the fact that he was so high up in a tower probably didn't help the fact. When it stopped, Link was reminded of the time he'd lost after Tael had decided to let him sleep in.

_I can't stop now_.

He quickly examined his situation as he stowed away his weapon, looking from the door frozen shut, to his sword frozen to the wall, to something he had only noticed in passing while battling. Up against the back wall was a rack and collection of shelves for weapons and armory, Link recalling the wizzrobe's comment about robbing it. The only weapon left on the rack, however, was a long bow, all armor gone. He guessed the rest had been stolen or used long ago.

Link approached the remaining bow, something on its upper limb shining just enough to catch his attention. He took it from its resting place and ran his finger along what he found on the handle. It was made of dark gray wood, the long bow the size of the one currently in his bag. The black string was in great condition, appearing to have been hardly used. What caught his attention the most, however, was the bright red gem encrusted into it.

The red gem had the image of a flame carved into it, Link's finger running across its smooth surface and finding two similarly sized holes just beside it. He decided they were for similar gems, Link remembering something else the wizzrobe had said. _I needed more gems, but the goron armory only had two left. Be glad I chose ice, or your death would have been an agonizing inferno instead._ Had he pried one of the gems from this bow?

Link turned to look at the staff, which was across the room from him and had gone dull with the death of the wizzrobe. He turned back to his bow, his mind trying to piece it together. _What if...?_ Link, wearily, pulled another arrow from the quiver hidden in his bag, placing its nock on the black string and pulling it back tightly. He stared at the arrow as, suddenly, the point gave birth to fire. Link's eyes went wide, the flame staying at the steel end and not spreading down the shaft. The heat radiated onto his face, the bow somehow able to keep the flame alive and at bay. Link looked down at the gem on the limb, it glowing fiercely as the fire crackled with life.

_A fire arrow._

Link smiled. The fire was warm and welcoming after the battle with ice he had experienced, the cold of Snowhead having seemingly settled into his bones. The boy turned his eyes back to the fire on the end of his arrow, looking at it curiously as his smile faded. As soon as he willed it to happen, the fire went out, the arrow once again normal and the steel end unharmed. When he changed his mind, the fire returned, the point blazing with life.

Link, after giving his arrow fire again, looked at the door covered in ice. He aimed it at its hardened surface, narrowing his eyes to aim the bow as he released the string. The fire arrow traveled through the air, it remaining aflame the entire way. It stuck into the wall, quivering back and forth as the fire spread. The bright orange light spread across the shining surface of the ice, the light brilliant as the frozen water began to melt.

He watched in amazement, the bow coming back down to his side as his mouth was agape. Soon merely a puddle of water remained where the barrier of ice had been, his arrow now black from the fire and soaked by the water. Link, after a moment of standing there in amazement, found his eyes eventually going back to the staff.

After traveling across the room, he bent down beside the corpse and set the bow down, picking up the staff and examining it. It now appeared to be a plain wooden stick. Link turned it over, looking it up and down but not being able to find an ice gem to counter his fire one. The staff must have absorbed it, leaving one less spoil for Link to take.

He picked back up the dark bow he had found here, once again looking upon the orange gem of fire. The two holes beside it promised the potential for his bow to one day possess new abilities. One hole was for the ice gem, but what about the other?

Link eventually decided there was no way for him to know, unless he ever found another bow that hadn't had its magical augments stolen.

He got back to his feet and looked around him. The way out was now free, Link wondering if he had chosen the correct door in the end. He decided he had, the bow in his hand promising to be of much use in the rest of the temple, and in his endeavors to come.

Link walked back over to the rack that had been made for weapons, it now empty. He reached into his bag and pulled out the bow he had found at Woodfall Temple, placing it where he had taken the one meant for Snowhead. He looked at it a moment longer, knowing it was a poor replacement, but deciding it would be quite a while before anyone came back here to care.

Upon examining the aftermath of his battle, Link knew he had a few more things to do before leaving. He would have to collect the arrows scattered around that hadn't been driven into the wizzrobe's body or used to open the doorway. They would then be used to replenish the supply he was about to use to free his sword and thaw out his shield. He went to stand a few feet from his sword.

Link removed an arrow from his quiver, notched it against the string, and watched as there was fire.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Santiago: Well, it's great to know my story has a wide audience! Thanks for reading!

grm: Thanks! That was definitely one of the more difficult tasks, explaining Nintendo Logic. But I feel like I've turned it to my advantage as far as the narrative for this story goes. I appreciate your faith in me finishing this and having it turn out to be a good story, though! I'll try to keep people updated whenever I can as far as progress goes, and hope you enjoy catching up to where the story is currently.

MajoraFan423: Thank you! I'm glad you liked the whole "Siege of Clock Town" story line, as that was a rather bold move I wasn't sure how well that audience would receive. I love to have suspense in this story, even when people think they know the outcome, since they've played the game. But, an interesting theory! Future chapters will definitely reveal more about the ReDead figure's nature. Hmm... I don't think I can spot the reference. Was 423 a meaningful number in the game? The only thing I can think of is the gang of kids who reveal the password, but even then, that's randomly generated between save files...

Guest: There is definitely a lot more to come regarding the Anju and Kafei narrative! We're just not there yet.

Some bloke: Thanks! I'm glad I was able to make the Skull Kid seem menacing, and make my readers that frightened regarding the outcome, haha. Hopefully it continues to be suspenseful for you in chapters to come.

Irish dude: Haha, awesome! Thank you, and I'm glad its making you think twice about the amazing narrative this game has!


	34. Goht

_Chapter 34: Goht_

_You said you'd leave him alone!_

Link bent down to pick up the his sword, it wet, slick, and having fallen from the wall it was frozen to. He slid the Razor Sword into his scabbard, drawing another arrow to thaw his shield.

_You promised you wouldn't hurt him, you liar! Get out of here!_

Once his shield was thawed, he slipped it onto his back, his bow stowed away. He looked at the dead wizzrobe lying in a pool of blood as he headed for the door.

_Get out of here and never come near him again!_

He remembered the horrible snapping sound. Link had gotten to his feet only to see Navi just as Tael had been on his first cycle, after the Skull Kid had killed him. _Gone. Navi was gone. Just like Zelda._ He stopped walking for a moment, his mouth opening as he stared off distantly, but no words came out. Looking blankly ahead, he wondered exactly how much more grief he could possibly bear. It almost saddened him to not be as upset about Navi as he thought he should be. Had he been so desensitized to loss that this realization was nothing to him? Was he now an emotionless husk? Or did he, for some reason, have that grief tied up with Tatl, held at bay until he lost her? He wasn't sure. Though he knew that it was not currently something he had time to dwell on.

Over the course of this rather long and painful adventure, everything had slowly come back to him, but now it was done. The broken stream of memories leading up to his arrival in Termina had been mended. Rather than answer his questions, it had brought countless new ones.

What had happened to him while unconscious to send him through the hole leading him to the Skull Kid? Had the ReDead faced creature thrown him in some pit, or sent him here by some other means? Or had someone else kidnapped him to send him here, from the clutches of the ReDead figure? Why had he at first believed he'd gotten here chasing the Skull Kid into a hole? Why had the imp and fairies acted as if that was what had happened? It was quite possible _that_ was the real version, and the new one that had just been presented to him was a dream.

Though Link didn't think so. Ever since being frozen had reminded him of the ReDead creature's grasp, the Skull Kid's robbery seemed more and more like an illusion, while the one in which Navi died became more realistic. Why exactly had he forgotten about any of it, in the first place? Navi was the reason he'd set out to leave Hyrule; if she had died moments before he arrived in Termina, then why was he still convinced she was alive and out there to be found? How could he have forgotten that Zelda was dead, as well? Hopes of returning to her had kept him going throughout his journey in Woodfall.

Who was the creature with the face of a ReDead, and why had it kidnapped him in Hyrule and then Tatl in Termina? Had it been working in other ways behind the scenes? Link's mind went to Tael then, and he wondered if somehow the evil being had been responsible for his disappearance as well. Something in the pit of his stomach told him that this was the case, but there was no way for him to know for sure.

There was no way for him to know anything for sure. There were so many questions, but only one course of action for him to take: He had to continue in his journey saving Snowhead, hopefully finding Tatl along the way. If not, he would return to Clock Town, where hopefully the mask salesman would be under the tower to help guide him further in rescuing his last friend.

Then an idea occurred to him. Link looked down to his left leg, where he remembered ripping a cut into it while holding onto Epona. He had dove after his horse to follow the Skull Kid in his original memory, catching onto the saddle and being bombarded by unlit explosives and the harsh terrain of the forest.

It was still there. The thin scar was proof that something had caught ahold of his leg to draw blood. Yet, only in the memory he was now convinced was a dream had that happened. His brow furrowed, Link's hand then going to his injured shoulder. The ice wolfos's claw had left small cuts there; while they had bled, they hadn't for very long, the hole in his clothes promising to chill his skin once he returned outside.

Link, after a few moments of standing there, knew there were no answers to find in this room. The only thing he'd garnered from his battle was the ability to shoot a fire arrow. And so he applied the goron mask, lifted the door, and left the dead wizzrobe behind.

The cylindrical room was once again curving around him. The ramp he was on lead to the one across from it, where the door he'd chosen not to go through was. He rolled into a ball, Link flying off of the lip at the end and landing on the other side. He looked to his left before passing through the door, knowing he could now pass the frozen barrier at the adjacent one. Should this one come to a dead end, he would use his fire arrow to clear the way.

When the door to the next room closed shut behind him, he found that it was, in fact, a dead end. However, something in it called his attention before he left.

The room was rather small, and made entirely of rock. A large stone slab was in the very center. It appeared ringed along the sides, and the top was a bright yellow, with a picture of a goron curled into a ball on top. Link approached it curiously, deciding it looked out of place amongst the rest of the room, especially since it jutted out a couple feet above the surface of the floor. It almost looked as if it could be pushed down, forced back into the ground as a button would.

He walked up to it carefully, placing one foot on top to watch it shift at his weight. At first, he feared the floor would simply fall out from underneath him, so he carefully put down the other foot, ready to roll away in an instant. The stone slab merely sank further, now almost level with the floor, but not quite. He looked at the picture of the goron rolled into a ball, and thought of what to do next. He sighed.

_One of these days, I'm going to get myself killed_.

He performed a goron pound, the boy slamming down into the button and driving it to be level with the floor. The room began to shake violently, Link exiting his ball and stumbling back onto the rock floor. The slab remained in place, not popping back up, but the shaking continued. He realized the entire building seemed to be trembling, but the noises coming from the cylindrical room on the other side of the door told him it was not an earthquake.

Link, almost terrified to find out what was happening, put his hands on the door to open it. It sounded as if stone was scrapping on stone, some ancient mechanism activated after years of dormancy. When he was back in the main room of the temple, he understood why.

It now made sense that all of the ramps had stopped short of meeting in the center. Down below, he remembered the first floor having a pillar connecting all of the sides, its bottom descending into the pit of magma. Now, that column had risen high into the air, surpassing the floor he was on and continuing to go upward. Link's head craned back as he watched the column grow higher, the building continuing to shake. His feet were firmly planted, however, and so he remained standing until the noises stopped.

The column had ended its ascent at the highest floor, he wagered, unsure if there was actually a small gap between its top and the roof. He was certain it hadn't broken through to the outside world, though, deciding it now allowed for passage between the sides of the room near the roof. Looking back in front of him, a thick stone pillar now prevented him from goron jumping between the ramps. He would have been stuck here, had it not been for the ledge jutting out to his right, allowing for passage to the doorway frozen shut.

_That explains why that's there_. Link stood for a moment longer, in awe at the mechanics of Snowhead temple. The column was dirt just in front of him, it only decorated near the top that had been the single part exposed earlier. After examining the effects of his button pressing, he rolled over to the doorway adjacent to his position. He removed his mask, drew an arrow, and watched as ice turned to water.

His arrow was once again ruined. Link had taken inventory back in the room with the wizzrobe, and knew he now only had fourteen left. _Best use them wisely_, he thought to himself, wondering whether any other fights awaited him before his time in Snowhead was done. He would be surprised if that wasn't the case.

Link passed through the doorway, once again in a dark cave inclining upward, wrapping around the cylindrical room from inside of its walls. Up he went, passing several openings that now merely lead to a ramp ending at a dead end. The column blocked off all passage between floors until the top was reached.

It wasn't long before it was. When the ramp ended, it lead to what had once been the floor of the first floor, but was now the floor of the top. He stepped out onto its surface to view his options.

Not counting the ramp he had just walked across, there were two. One was the first roofed walkway he had encountered, but it was filled with snow from top to bottom, making passage impossible. On the opposite of that one was a ramp that ended at a large staircase carved into the other side, which lead up to an equally impressive door. The ramp was much larger and grander than the past ones, without a lip on either end.

He also noted that a small portion of the wall to the left of the grand door was barred instead of composed of ice, revealing what was on the other side of it: a button similar to the one he had pressed below. He assumed it would make the column he was standing on sink back to the bottom, but he also assumed the only way to get to it would be to trudge through the snow of the roofed walkway. That, however, would take precious time he did not have.

The temple's roof was now the only thing above him. Up here, the walls were a brilliant white, shining compared to the rocky walls below. The gaps in between the ramps revealed the sickening height at which he currently was, having traversed the entire temple vertically.

Now there was only the large door to his right. It was surrounded by spikes of ice jutting outward, giving it an almost intimidating feel. Link thought he knew what was on the other side as he approached it. The door was heavier, darker, and thicker than any of the previous ones he had opened. Link knew he would be incapable of opening it as a human, and so he donned his latest mask of transfiguration.

The thick, muscled-arms of the deceased goron hero returned to him. He shoved the wall inward and began to push it slowly upwards. He struggled with its weight, however, his arms straining as he held his breath. He did not give up, finding the lip underneath and thrusting the door shakily above him. The door creaked and cracked, but eventually there was a space large enough for him to slip through. Link did just that, letting go of the door and stumbling onto the other side.

It slammed shut forcefully behind him, the heavy, stone boom echoing throughout all of Snowhead Temple.

* * *

The first thing he felt was a powerful wind.

His green hat flew off almost instantly. His hand went out to grab it, but his fingers met nothing, the pointed garment dancing away along the curve of the room. Wispy fingers savagely blew his white hair in the same direction, as the wind did not relent. It cut through his skin, the cold settling in rather quickly. The goron hero looked to his right to find its source.

It was a goat. Or a bull. Or a horse. But none of those. It was made of metal, legs twice as tall as Darmani leading from the ground up to its body. It was tailless, the metallic colors consistent up until its head. While it was four legged and standing as such, its eyes, nose, and mouth appeared to be that of a human. Two massive horns went around to curve outward and forward on both sides of its head, and a long red chin came down a couple of feet. Its face was purple, its eyes dull, but the mechanical monster was frozen solid. Its body was thick and massive, plated artificially and containing no flesh.

Ice completely encased it, shining brilliantly. The creature was rather large, and so, therefore, was the quantity of ice it took to keep it completely at bay. Wind was swirling around it, bellowing outward to fill the room as well as up, hitting the roof only to bounce back downward. Link stood before it in awe, an ant compared to the goat-bull-horse machine standing there.

The room itself was of an equal size, to befit such a beast. It, Link realized, was a track. It was made of dirt, ice, and snow, circling around the massive cylinder he had just exited. The floor was uneven, lips occurring every now and then to break its surface. Link, upon looking up at the beast a moment longer, decided to examine the rest of the room. He curled into a ball.

His sense revealed to him that there was no other door. The room merely went around in a circle, empty save for the beast and himself. He stood back out of his ball and looked at the face more closely. It appeared to be a mask adorning the mechanical body, and he knew he had found it.

This was the next monster harboring the giant of Snowhead. And Tatl wasn't here.

Link's heart sank. He realized that he hadn't actually expected her to be here. Clock Town had been his instinct, when it came to saving her, but it was too late to leave Snowhead abandoned now. He decided the job had to be finished while he was here; he refused to return to these northern wastes after this cycle had been left behind. Link looked the beast up and down, wondering how to best free the sealed spirit.

He couldn't reach the mask through the ice, however, and knew it was too tall anyways, had it been unfrozen and inanimate. Link's mind warned him of the dangers of thawing it, the wind bellowing from it and over him ominous. But there was nothing else he could do. Link hoped the fire would burn it, the ice had broken it long ago, or the water would damage the interworking parts of the machine.

He removed his mask, gasping when the green hat in his human form flew off. He managed to grab it with his spare hand, smiling at not having lost it too. The one his goron form had worn soon flew by, however, Link remembering the room was round and that it had no where else to go. He stowed the one he'd caught in his bag along with the goron mask, the wind tousling his blonde hair as it had his white. It filled the hole left behind by the ice wolfos, stinging the cuts underneath.

He unsheathed his bow and put an arrow back against the string, the cold much stronger in his human form. He raised it, the tip aimed at the ice barrier. Fire appeared, it somehow managing to crackle with life against the will of the wind. The orange gem on the upper limb glowed brightly.

"Let's hope you're already dead... gigantic... odd... horse... thing...," Link said softly. _G.o.h.t._, he mused, smiling to himself when he realized it looked like a goat too. "Goht, then. But something tells me you're not dead." _That would be too simple_, he thought to himself.

He began to wonder how this machine had come to be frozen solid in the first place. If it was the curse that was keeping Snowhead in its never ending winter, he wondered if the cold it caused the outside world had rendered it motionless as well.

_Let's find out_.

He released the string, and the fire arrow cut sharply through the hard force of the wind. The point drove straight through the ice, quivering back and forth as the fire began to spread, brilliantly reflecting light everywhere. As the fire spread, water fell, and Link lowered the bow to his side, craning back his head and watching, blonde hair pushed back.

It wasn't long before he heard a mechanical groaning sound coming from the machine he'd deemed Goht. The wind stopped. His hair came down flatly, and the green hat a few feet behind him fell lightly to the floor. The only noises were now the clicking ones coming from within the goat-bull-horse-machine hybrid. The ice hadn't completely melted, but Link's eyes were drawn away from the fire and ice when he saw the dead eyes come to life. The bright red orbs found his own instantly.

There was a terrible roaring sound, it sounding as bestial as it did mechanical. The ice that had not yet shattered suddenly exploded, shards raining down in all directions. Link's leg went back as if to run, but it was far too late. The shards, thankfully, landed all around him, none impaling him, but they were the least of his worries when the massive beast was running all fours in his directions.

It was only two strides of its long, powerful legs away, and so Link barely leapt free, the black hooves slamming into the ground behind him and throwing up rock and ice. Goht, the machine near the size of a house, continued running regardless, thundering off into the distance with its clicks and hums just as loud.

He came to his feet quickly, looking frightfully at the dirt it was kicking up as it thundered around the corner. _Of course._

"You're so stupid, Link!" Tatl would have exclaimed just beside him. "Why the Din did you set that beast free? Sometimes I wonder if Bubble Brain should have been the hero. He would have certainly made better decisions than you."

"Shut up, Tatl," Link said to himself, smiling as he drew his bow from his bag. He remembered the red chuchu they had taken captive when first entering the forest, and the nickname they'd given it. _I'm almost done here. But then I'm coming from you, Tatl. Just hold on._

Link drew the next arrow back as he stepped out onto the massive track, pointing it in the opposite direction Goht had run in. Knowing the rink went around in a circle, Goht's rampaging had yet to stop, so he knew the machine would appear around the corner soon enough. The arrow's tip was alive with fire, ready to strike through the center of its face.

When Goht rounded the corner, Link smiled. He recalled the intense battle that had been fought with Odolwa, and was almost sad this one would be so easy. He released the arrow as the beast came stumbling in his direction. Its red eyes were angry, the beast fierce as it rounded the corner. The machinery within worked loudly, the horns pointed forward threateningly.

Before his arrow could reach the beast's face, something unexpected happened. Two beams of light traveled from the ends of each horn to meet in front of Goht's face. As soon as they did, a bright ball of electricity was formed, it sizzling and kept in place as it did not stop running. The arrow traveled into the ball of electricity and did not come back out the other side, disintegrated. The energy was released, it going through the air almost instantaneously to where Link was standing.

Suddenly, light was everywhere, Link lifted off of his feet as pain jolted through him. He spiraled once, twice, thrice, landing painfully on his stomach. His ears rang and his vision was blurred as he slowly lifted his head, moaning to see Goht had not ceased running.

Link still shook from the intensity of the attack, his body unscathed aside from how it had jarred his strength and senses. His eyes found his bag, which lay a few feet away from him, having flown off his shoulder. Goht continued trampling towards him, the room shaking as its hooves approached him, red eyes angry. Link tried to push himself up with his hands, but fell back on his face, realizing there was no strength left in him to stand.

Link lifted his head to look at his bag once more, deciding to crawl towards it. He pulled himself with his arms, but Goht was covering ground much quicker. In seconds, he would be a bloody pulp. The legs were only four strides away from him when his hand finally reached the lip of his bag. There were only two left by the time he found the goron's mask within.

He pulled it towards his face just as the robotic legs came down. He was instantly Darmani, and took the last second to roll into a ball. The hoof landed on the hard side of his rocky back at an angle, sending him bulleting through the air. Link crashed against the wall, rolling down into the track behind Goht, who had continued running onward as if it hadn't missed.

Link was out of his ball as soon as he was on the ground, trying to get to his feet but falling to his knees, panting as the jarring effects of the electricity still wore off. He looked up to see Goht had stopped, now turned around to face him. He also found that his bag had survived the trampling, lying near where he now panted.

Goht didn't seemed phased, almost instantly beginning to run towards him again, this time head on. Link weakly got to his feet, grabbing his bag and throwing it into the alcove where the entrance to the room was; at that spot was a slight indention into the cylinder the track rounded, keeping it out of the way of the monster making laps. Link then turned away, rolling into a ball and traveling as fast as his goron body would allow him, a blast of electricity just barely missing him from behind. He didn't know if he could take another one of those and expect to survive.

Link had never felt so physical exhausted as he rolled; each time he spun he almost felt sick, his muscles aching. Goht never tired, the robot clearly not intending to wind down any time soon. Ball of electricity after ball of electricity came crashing down all around him, Link having to go out of his way to avoid them. Each dodge took more energy from him, slowed him, and brought Goht a little closer to being able to smash him to bits. His extra sense also couldn't tell him where the attack was went it became airborne; an explosion often caught him by surprise, a few barely missing him.

When he felt a piece of the roof dislodge itself, yet something else was added to the chaos. Boulders began raining down from above, one shattering just beside him. Its shockwave lifted him into the air for a few seconds, and he knew that his hard rock back could not survive a direct impact from one of those. The machine's rampage had caused the roof to become unstable, and on top of the constant bombardment of electricity and his waning energy, he knew he would not last much longer in this race against the beast.

What ended it was the boulder that landed a few feet in front of him. Link crashed into it, landing on his face once more, a ball of electricity exploding beside him. He looked up, his goron eyes wide in terror, to see Goht only a few strides away from him. There was only thing he could do.

Link rolled straight towards the beast, hoping to miss its prancing legs. It was going too fast to stop before it noticed what he was doing, so Link barreled onward. He came inches from being trampled, but his goron sense allowed him to roll out from underneath Goht unharmed. The robot ran right into the boulder, tripping over it and falling into the ground on the other side. Goht made a resonating boom when it face-planted, Link exiting his ball and turning to watch.

He breathed in and out heavily, watching as Goht laid there motionless.

_Thank you._

But his thanks were too soon. Goht began to struggle back to its feet, the noises it made coming alive again, sounding only slightly clunkier.

"No...," Link breathed. He'd hardly caught his breath, and already the beast was turned around, red eyes angrier than before and ready to murder. A thin string of smoke had begun to rise from its neck, but any injuries it had sustained seemed minimal. Goht roared before running towards him again. Link went to take a step backward, but not before he noticed a bomb arcing through the air. The small, dark blue ball had its fuse lit, spinning towards him and having sprung from an opening in the monster's back.

Link rolled, the bomb exploding behind him.

Fire. Heat. Link was forcefully thrown upward, and the ground was unforgiving when he landed on his side. Having been thrown for the third time, Link staggered when he got to his feet, his breathing ragged now.

It wouldn't stop. It wouldn't relent. Not even for a moment. Because it was a machine.

The alcove with his bag and the door was not far behind him, and Link stumbled into it, collapsing to his knees again. Goht ran up to the alcove as well, but it was too big to fit in with Link. It roared angrily, as Link backed into the door that had brought him into the room. It shot two more beams of energy from its horns, to meet and form another ball. Link rolled to the side, not daring to exit the alcove as it exploded behind him.

The next time Link stood he was just beside his bag, picking it up and throwing it over his shoulder as yet another blast of electricity came down. His small goron legs were barely quick enough, but the attack missed, nonetheless. Each breath was painful... He couldn't... He couldn't... Soon he would faint...

_Stop..._

But Goht did not stop. Instead the machine began to throw its head into the cylinder, attempting to widen the hole so it could fit in and trample Link. He panicked, the goron's eyes wide and black as he ran for the door. He pushed against it as hard as he could, but he was now too weak. He tried again, and again, but it would not budge. All the while, Goht savagely rammed itself into the alcove, trying to widen it, trying to get to him. He was trapped inside now, unable to get passed the monster into the rest of the room.

Link stopped and closed his eyes. He blocked out the noise of the machine and the falling rocks, calming himself to listen to the sound of his own breathing. For a moment, the world was just himself, and his own heart beat. He took in another relaxing breath, Goht distant.

_Relax. You can open it. Just relax. Find your strength._

And he did. Link pushed the door inward, and began to slide it upward. Goht, who had already weakened the structure of the alcove, paused itself, ending its rampage to back away several fee. It then dragged its back hoof against the ground in preparation as a bull would.

Goht ran for the alcove at full speed just as Link slipped out of the room. Rock shattered, and the entire roof of the small cave fell in behind him. The monster did not stop. Link had exited the machine's chamber, but it came stumbling out as well, flinging rock and stone in all directions. Link half fell down the stairs to get away from Goht, and the heavy stone door came flying by his face, missing it by half an inch.

Link didn't stop, running on his small goron legs as the world was chaos behind him. He was running along the ramp towards the center column, which was still level with the top floor he was on. He recalled how this ramp had been wider and grander than the others; this enabled Goht's legs to fit as he ran down after him. The stone that came flying out behind it destroyed the staircase, going further to collapse the ramp. The machine's weight didn't help in this aspect either. It continued falling from underneath its feet, falling down the length of Snowhead Temple and destroying the bridge that lead to its lair.

Link would eventually reach the column but knew it would not be enough. The beast would not stop and would trample him. The top of the column was large enough for the machine to stand on, and would most certainly support its weight. It was too late to turn, Link heading straight for the walkway with a roof, the one filled with snow. He then narrowed his eyes in determination, tucking his bag within him as he took his ball form. He rolled at full speed towards the enclosed walkway.

He reached the round pillar, but continued, gaining momentum as he crossed over its decorative surface. Goht didn't stop. Even after the ramp was completely destroyed, its remains tumbling down far below, it reached the column. Link was already across it, and shot straight into the snow that been blocking his path into the room on the other side.

But the snow was too thick. Link only made it a quarter of the way through, and then was stuck, the snow absorbing his speed easily. His mind was suddenly blank with panic when he knew what came next. He stood tall and turned around as he put the bag back over his shoulders, the snow leading back out to the pillar obliterated.

But there stood Goht, too large to come in after him. The monster jammed its horns into the open passage and began to shake its head back and forth, the roofed ramp beginning to tear from the wall it was connected too. As it tilted to the right, Link's feet left the ground, grabbing onto the roof before he fell down to his death. As heavy as his goron body was, his arms were strong enough to match his weight. The walkway was continuing to tear, however, at Goht's urging, the supports holding the roof to its floor also groaning.

He looked down the sickening height he'd once been objectively viewing before he'd passed into Goht's chambers. Now, of course, it was quite subjective; any moment he would fall. Goht gave a final metallic roar as it charged another electricity ball, with its horns still stuck into the passageway. He fired it, filling the entirety of its insides with light. All of the snow within was obliterated, leaving the way to the door clear. But it did nothing to further tearing the ramp from the wall.

The machine roared angrily, twisting now in the other direction. As it turned, Link, whose arms had begun to grow weary, flung himself back inside and onto the floor of the ramp the moment it was straightened out. It would not remain that way for long, and so Link rolled hastily to the doorway on the other side. Goht's horns brought it this way and that... but Link made it as soon as the walkway was ripped from the wall.

Goht removed its horns to watch as it fell, the ramp ripping in half as it did so, the stone loud and crashing all around the temple as it plummeted. It took ramp after ramp with it, destroying each level below on the side it had been on.

Link was watching from the doorway he had reached, getting to his feet to look at the pillar he had narrowly made it off of. Goht was now separated from him by a rather large gap, the walkway once connecting the two sides now absent.

The machine screamed in fury, going to step forward, but its hooves hardly had room on the platform to move at all. It was trapped. The only ramp left was the one leading to the downward spiraling cave, but it was far too narrow for Goht to cross, and it, in any case, would not lead to Link. Link examined where this new doorway he had reached lead, as the machine expressed its disapproval loudly. It was another dark cave, but instead of inclining up or down, it went to the left. Link realized it would eventually have to reach the portion of the wall that was barred. Behind it was the button.

_The passageway leads around to it._

Almost as soon as Link had this figured out, a blast of electricity was flying at him. He quickly maneuvered away from it, beginning to run through the enclosed darkness. He had just decided that Goht could not reach him when an explosion nearly killed him. Thankfully, it had happened a few feet back, blowing a hole into the wall and floor to leave nothing but rubble, the fiery explosion obliterating all. Goht was chucking bombs at the walls, knowing Link was scurrying behind them in a tunnel.

He ran, his little legs far too small and his bag bouncing madly over his thick shoulder.

BOOM

The fire was in front of him this time, and Link was blown backward off of his feet. Had he been a few steps ahead, he would be dead. Now, however, a hole was left in the floor, and he knew he would not be able to jump over it as a goron. Light spilled into the cave from the newly created opening as Link through his bag off of his shoulder and removed the mask.

He caught the bag in midair after his transformation was complete, and Link ran at the hole with human legs.

He leapt across the gap, landing on his boots on the other side. Link's bag was around him again as he ran for his life, an explosion happening just behind him. He could feel its heat on the back of his neck. He wondered how many bombs this creature had, and decided he didn't want to know the answer.

_One step after the other. One step after the other._

BOOM

Link managed to miss the explosion of fire, but the ground beneath his feet was suddenly gone. He grabbed the ledge of the cave's continuation, pulling himself back up to it and putting on the goron mask again. Without the hindrance of the bag, he rolled, the next explosion far behind him.

Light spilled on his goron form, but this time not from a hole created by a bomb. It was from the spaces in between the bars of the new room. He stopped rolling as soon as he reached the button. Link hardly paused to get on top of it and perform a goron pound, but a bomb was already in the air towards the gate.

The button was activated as soon as the explosion occurred. The entire room collapsed, sliding outward into the air. The thick stone slab of a button, identical to the other one, was now ruined, but the pillar in the center of the temple had already begun its descent, with Goht on it. The monster roared angrily, lifting its hooves uncertainly as it began to go down to the lower floors. The temple was shaking again as the machinery worked hard to activate the elevator.

Link was falling. His goron hands grasped emptily for something, stone and metal all around him. He spun to look downward and at the ramp he was fast approaching. He curled himself inward and began to roll in the direction the ramp went, towards the doorway. When he landed, the rolling prevented his momentum from stopping too abruptly, and he zoomed through the doorway into another dark cave.

Stone came crashing through the ramp he had just been on, bringing it down with the rest of the debris that had fallen. Only half of it remained, jutting outward only to end jaggedly. Link ran to its edge, looking up to see Goht slowly being lowered downward. The red eyes were terrified, hooves with no where to go; it was trapped on the island sinking toward some unknown fate.

Link, smiling to himself, removed his mask and began to run up the passageway, it wrapping around the cylinder and leading him to the highest level. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. None of the bombs were anywhere near Link, however. The monster was flinging them everywhere at random, having no idea where the boy had disappeared or where the pillar was descending.

Link soon reached the end of the tunnel. He came out on the one ramp remaining on the top floor, running to the edge to look down at Goht raging in place. Explosion after explosion continued to wreck havoc on the temple, until the red eyes spotted him from two floors below.

Link, having thought himself safe looking down on the beast, was proven wrong when a bomb was propelled in his direction. Link stepped away from the edge, the bomb flying right where his face had been. It exploded on the roof, debris raining down to miss the ramp.

He pulled out his bow, approaching the edge again to aim an arrow down at the beast. Another bomb was coming up in his direction, however, and so he released the arrow before he could get a good shot. It was several feet off, missing the mask on the front of the beast by far. The second bomb was just as off as his arrow had been, it hitting the tangled mess of stone that had once been the entrance to Goht's lair.

Link's second attempt was more successful, but it missed by a hair. All the while, Goht was going further and further downward, the aim getting more difficult. Link realized this wasn't working, the third bomb so close he could taste death. Then, he had an idea.

Link took a deep breath, approaching this edge and this time aiming it at the beast's back. He released the string just as the bomb came out. The arrow drove itself straight into the lit explosive, only inches from the machine it had been hurled out of.

The resulting explosion caused Goht's most horrifying scream yet. It was almost animal-like, in its fear of death. Its body was thrown from the pillar, the top of which had been blown off as well. Fire enveloped the metallic body as the mask was forcefully thrown onto a nearby ramp, several floors below. Goht, on fire and plummeting through the air like the countless rocks before it, disappeared from view, the noise's of its machinery melting into the flames. It fell, fell, fell- down into the pit of lava below.

Link, staring after where Goht had been, watched as the pillar continued descending, despite all that had happened. Even with its top gone, it settled once it had completed its journey far below, an eerie silence then filling the temple once it stopped shaking. The boy stood at the edge of the highest ramp, victorious.

He fell to his knees in exhaustion, breathing in and out heavily as he laid his bow down beside him. _I did it._ He brought his hand up to wipe the sweat from his brow. _It's done._

His rest didn't last long; suddenly, a white light flooded over him. Link's eyes widened as his hands went to instinctively protect his face. Its brilliance soon faded, himself unaffected, and Link remembered that the same thing had happened with Odolwa's mask. He scooted towards the edge to look down at where the mask had fallen. It still lay on the ramp, glowing blue and rotating like the first one had. He also knew it was floating slightly in the air, even though he couldn't tell from this height.

Link, smiling to himself when he realized the second curse had been lifted, put his bow back into his bag, getting to his feet. From his perch above, he looked around at the ruin of the temple before going back down to retrieve Goht's remains. Countless ramps were missing, holes littering the once seamless walls of the cylindrical room. The temple had been completely destroyed from the inside, Link wondering if the way out was reachable anymore.

It didn't matter, though. He knew once he touched the mask that it would teleport him safely out of the temple. With smoke filling the air, slowly streaming up to rise from the shattered ruins of the goron's holy place, Link turned back to go down the passageway.

_I'm halfway there. Only two more to go._

Then, the temple shook again. Link quickly regained his balance, his mind instantly recognizing it for what it was. An earthquake.

_Tatl._

Link ran.

* * *

"But I'm so ugly...,"

"Just please stop talking." The goron was quite irritated at the moment, staring ahead with annoyed black eyes. Darmani's tomb was large enough shelter, but the noises of the violent winter storm outside were not quite kept at bay, the whistling of the wind noisy. The two gorons who had once stood guard outside were now both lying in the pool of hot spring water in the middle of the room, no longer hidden beneath Darmani's grave. The warm water had long taken the cold out of their bodies, but they were still stuck, the delicious rocks, warmth, and shelter unable to clear the passageway outside blocked with snow.

"See! Even you hate me." The goron just across from him had his eyes filled with self-pity, looking sadly down at the warm water he bathed in.

"For the millionth time, people don't hate you," the annoyed one replied, his irritability still not gone from his voice. "The other gorons don't run in fear from you because of your ugliness. You're being ridiculous."

"So... you do think I'm ugly? And that people do run away from me?"

The goron's eyes narrowed at the one who had just spoken. "That's not what I meant. I'm sure people are wondering where we are, and miss us. Even if you _were_ ugly, that doesn't mean they'd stop looking for us."

"So... do you think I'm attractive?"

The other goron shifted uncomfortably in the hot spring water, turning away from the other goron uncertainly. "Uh... I guess... objectively... You really just need to stop talking. We could spend the rest of our lives up here, and I'd like some of those hours spent in silence."

"So... you _do_ think my ugliness is going to stop them from ever finding us!"

The other goron scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm done talking to you."

"That's what everyone always says."

"I wonder why..."

"Because I'm ugly?"

"Yes. Because you're ugly."

The goron looked away sadly, the other one knowing his mood would bounce back soon enough. He wondered if he would have been better off freezing to death outside, with this annoying goron beside him still in a block of ice.

His thoughts were interrupted, however. A flash of white suddenly filled the entire cave, both gorons gasping and covering their eyes. It didn't last long, fading away to leave things as they were.

Both gorons exchanged a glance, wondering what exactly had just happened. The flash had been blinding, but it had seemingly come from no where. "... The wind!" the ugly goron exclaimed. It took the other goron a moment longer to realize what he meant.

It had stopped.

Both rose from the hot spring water and walked towards the doorway, brimming with hope. When they passed outside, the nighttime sky was clear, without a cloud in sight. A smile came to both of their faces when they stepped out onto grass, the rocky cliff before them no longer covered in ice. The gentle breeze that stirred was filled with warmth and smells the gorons had long forgotten. The two of them smiled broadly, exchanging glances before turning to the passageway that had once been blocked with snow. Its floor was wet, but the way off of the cliff was now open.

"Spring... it's here!"

His ugly friend was smiling just as broadly, on the verge of laughing. "Then that really was Darmani! I told you! He did save us!"

He looked to the ledge where the goron hero and fairy had stood the day before. It was true. The curse in Snowhead was lifted.

"We must get back to the village! There'll be a feast tonight!"

* * *

His eyes opened to the sound of cheering.

His son's calls for help faded from his head, as the dream ended. He recalled the purple lightning as it had cut across the sky; it had been the bolt that changed his life forever and ended another.

He wiped a tear from his eye, turning over in his bed to look around his hut curiously. Somehow, it seemed brighter than it usually did at night, and the voices outside brighter still. "He did it! He did it! We're saved!" Gorbus's eyes went to the curtain separating him from the outside world. The wind was hardly stirring it. He threw the covers off of himself and half stumbled towards it.

He threw it back, stepping through the doorway. His senses were overwhelmed.

_Warmth_.

The gorons around him danced joyously, families hand in hand as they laughed. All of them were heading around the line of houses, Gorbus knowing them to be going to the shrine.

He, however, stood in awe. The dirt felt good underneath his feet, a patch of grass brushing against his left toes. The cliff marking the end of goron village was just before him, distant mountain ranges stretching out for miles. The very tops were still covered in snow, but other colors, for the first time in what had seemed forever, were now visible. The green valleys... the forests and flowers... the joy of spring...

_Of life. Rebirth_.

He stepped closer to the edge, almost shaking as he beheld the world around him.

"Dad. I want to see the flowers again. Why don't the blue tulips grow anymore? I always liked those." His son's voice, so young and sweet, seemed clearer in his head than it ever had been before.

"You will, son," he said to himself, looking down to see a small blue flower growing in a patch of grass.

The nighttime sky was brilliant. The stars seemed to brim with life, beaming down from the cloudless world above to oversee the joy of the gorons. The world was rich, and alive; the sky was almost seemed streaked with red, a purplish glow filling Snowhead with a vibrant light.

Gorbus bent down, his hand gently plucking the flower from the ground. A tear began to trickle down his face as he beheld its beautiful blue petals. _I love you Daddy_. His eyes had been the same color. He'd never been old enough to outgrow them, when they would have turned black.

"Darmani! Darmani saved us! The goron hero returned! It's over! It's over!"

The people's voices rang out, but Gorbus knew that Darmani had not been their hero this time. He remembered what he'd said to the boy who had saved his life twice, whose name he did not even know. _I want to trust you. Maybe, now that I have nothing left, it is in foolhardiness that I do so, but... I want to believe that all hope isn't lost._

"I'm _supposed_ to do this," the boy had said in response. "I can end this curse and give you a reason to live again."

Gorbus smiled, bringing the flower by his side as he looked up into the sky. "Thank you," he said, as tears now openly rolled down his cheeks. "Thank you." He began to laugh, standing at the edge of the cliff overlooking the first spring that had come to Snowhead in years. "You gave me hope. _Thank you_."

And so he wept, the town bells echoing across the land, foretelling doom to all. Their ringing fell on deaf ears celebrating spring's brief return, as the moon came to destroy them.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

SCAG: Soon enough! The chapters to follow will be quite eventful.

EX-MARK: Thank you! And ah, that point has been brought up quite a few times... "after Hyrule"... its relevance may be explained in the very near future.


	35. Realm of Shadows, Part 1

Note: I can't begin to tell you how eager I have been to get to this part. It's one of the places my mind has always gone to, when I think about this story. I recently read an interview, from an author I respect, who talked about how he skipped one part of his story in the middle (due to its emotional intensity), and came back to it later to write it before it was published. I would be tempted to do the same thing here, but since a story published on this site involves continuous updates, I would have to forsake chronology.

Regardless, I present to you the third "finale", marking the end of the Snowhead arc of the story. I have the second part already written, and am over half way done with the third. Technically, the end of this three-part conclusion marks the halfway point (narratively speaking) of the entire story. Length-wise we may have already surpassed it. Any who, I posted it a day early, since I will be out of town all weekend. Hopefully, I'll get the parts to follow up soon (for the second one needs some heavy revising... it was one of the more challenging chapters to write)

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

* * *

_Chapter 35: Realm of Shadows, Part 1_

The sky was a shimmering mixture of green light above him. The ringing noises began to vanish, the golden light subsiding to reveal a bright new reality. Link was standing on top of a lone platform hundreds of feet in the air, looking around as water came down from the sky in large columns. It poured into the sea of clouds surrounding him, the ground invisible.

He dropped the hand he'd used to shield his eyes when he realized where he was. The brown creature was far off as the other one had been; its body was a round head perched on legs with long, lanky arms. It was hard to make out much else in the great distance separating them, the light, clouds, and water also obstructing his view.

Its voice did not take from the beauty of the land surrounding Link. The deep, majestic singing relayed to him the same song the other one had. Link instinctively drew out his ocarina to play along, their songs combing to form a duet as soothing as the milky clouds and warm sky. When the singing was done, Link returned his ocarina to his belt, his wide blue eyes reflecting the serenity around him. "You're the protective guardians, aren't you? The ones from the story?"

His voice seemed almost empty compared to the surreal nature of the world around him. The creature responded nonetheless, its voice hard to make out. "Guardians."

Link nodded his head, balling his hands together. "I'll free the rest of your brothers from the other temples, as soon as I save my friend."

The giant responded by singing, but the song was solemn. Link didn't quite understand the change in tone, but the clouds and sky began to vanish before he find out what it had meant.

* * *

When the light faded, he found himself in the dead of night, brown, green, and gray surrounding him under a bright, starry sky. The world seemed more alive than it ever had before, Link attributing this to the double effect of having just come from the dream-like world of the giant and the return of spring. The air was alive with the smells of life and warmth. The ice and snow were gone, as far south as he was, marking his location by the mountain smithy's cabin just beside him. He thought the same must be true for what lay further north.

He smiled to himself at the lush grass surrounding him, the tall pine trees no longer plagued by blankets of white. He heard water rushing nearby, and the sounds of insects teemed within the waters. There was no longer a desolate wind blowing over lifelessness; life had returned to Snowhead. The tektite cave was still where it had always been, and Link noted the bodies were no longer scattered about the lawn as they had been when he left.

A light was on inside of the cabin, smoke climbing from the chimney to scrape the beauty of Termina's final nighttime sky. Though the world was about to end, the purple and red, the clarity of the world around him, was all stunningly gorgeous. In death, the land seemed to dazzle its inhabitants with a swan song of beauty, though it was as chilling as it was wondrous. Link heard the bells of Clock Town ringing, and the smile faded from his face.

_How long was I asleep?_

The moon was no longer in the sky. It hovered over the town at the center of this land, its back to Snowhead, mere hours away from destroying everything that drew breath. Though he was still exhausted from his battle with Goht, the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand, the eeriness of the cool night soon replacing the wonder of spring.

His blue eyes were wide as they beheld the moon hovering over Clock Town, the valley he was in just high enough to peer over the mountain walls separating him from Termina Field. He took one booted step forward, mouth agape in shock when he realized how little time was left. Before he ran to snake down the mountain pathway, however, he turned to Zabora's house. Link ran up the stairs and threw the door open, stepping into the room.

The small man was sitting on the couch to the right, as he had been before, and the giant with his hammer slung over his shoulder. "Ugo-oh!" The 'shaddup' Link expected to follow did not come. The blacksmith appeared depressed as he sat there, his arm in a sling as he looked up with sad eyes to see the boy step into his home.

"You...," he said distantly, almost seeming surprised.

Link looked at them uncertainly. The giant had his massive helmet on, the slit still there for him to peer through. They were both waiting for him to speak, and so he did. "Yes. Is- my sword done?"

Zabora merely stared him. The boy wasn't sure he'd actually heard what he said. "Where's your fairy?"

Link didn't say anything at first, his expression darkening. "She was taken from me."

"By a man in a black cloak?" Zabora continued to stare at him, eyes shining. Link's expression darkened even further at this; suddenly he felt anger. "With the face of a ReDead?"

"_How do you know about that?_" Link took several steps closer to the blacksmith, who cringed back on his couch defensively almost instantly. The boy stopped when he saw this, realizing he must have faced the monster too. "It... came by here?"

"He. It was definitely a he. And he was looking for you. You and your fairy."

"It could speak?"

"Yes. It sounded like a normal man, though. But it wasn't." The blacksmith gestured towards his injured arm, Link glancing at it in acknowledgment.

"I need to find him before the moon..." Link trailed off, looked up at a clock hanging near the window. _1:34_. "It'll land in Clock Town in four and a half hours."

"... It's going to kill all of us, isn't it?" Link wasn't sure how to answer this. He could only look at the blacksmith sadly. There was no way for him to stop the moon in this cycle, and so he knew this man's fate no matter what the outcome for Tatl was.

"I don't know. But I can try and save Tatl before my time's up." There was a pause; he tried to find something comforting to say, but he couldn't. So he moved on to business. "Did you finish my sword?"

Zabora didn't say anything initially, looking down before back up. "Yes, and we can't make a sword stronger than it. No matter how many times you use it, it will never lose its edge." Link unsheathed his Razor Sword and laid it at the desk, Gabora pulling another sword out from behind the counter to lay it in front of him. "You'll be needing a new scabbard as well."

Link was impressed. The blade had been infused with the golden dust, it shining brilliantly with only a few patches of glistening silver amidst the diamond shaped spots of gold. The tip was sharpened and as brilliant as the rest, the handle with a white grip mixed with red. The guards were pointed and aesthetically pleasing, the weapon as deadly as it was a piece of art.

He held it in his hands carefully, laying it down to take off his shield and scabbard. His new sheath was a dark red, and was attached to his back, his shield going over it as soon as it was secured. Link wrapped his left hand around the handle of his new weapon, holding it in the air in front of him to examine.

"The Gilded Sword." Link liked the weight of it, sliding it into its new home and hoping he wouldn't have to use it in the near future.

"Would I be able to buy a health potion before I go?" Link asked, still feeling weary from his Snowhead Temple adventure. "I have plenty of rupees..."

"I don't think rupees mean anything anymore," the blacksmith said, his look sincere. Link nodded, taking the potion the giant handed to him and drinking half of it almost instantly. He let out a deep breath once he was done, it burning but revitalizing. He placed the bottle into his bag and looked at Zabora one last time. "I hope you find your friend," the blacksmith bid him, his look still filled with emotion.

"Ugoh ugo ugo!"

Link stepped out into the spring of Snowhead, sprinting now for the passageway leading out of the mountain. _I'm on my way, Tatl_. Clock Town seemed to glow from his position, a village alive at night as much as it was dead. The fireworks had long ago stopped, the clock face now the roof of the tower under which he'd first come here.

When he reached the wall he would have to climb down to begin his journey back, he realized the brown winter clothing on him was no longer needed. The heavy coat and pants would weigh him down, the warmth of spring not making them necessary. He threw both off, now in only his green tunic, as he always had been before. Link took his hat out of his bag and put it on top of his head, turning to climb down the wall.

He landed on the rocky trail, turning to run.

The clock tower. The mask salesman had to be underneath it. Otherwise, he would arrive there only to have wasted these last few hours. Maybe, if not at the clock tower, he would run into someone on his way there. Maybe he would find the Skull Kid, or the cloaked ReDead figure, Tatl herself, Tael, or maybe even the mask salesman. Something _had_ to happen to lead him to his fairy.

But somehow, he knew deep down inside it was futile. His journey to Clock Town would be unhindered, and he would make it there only to find the room underneath the tower empty, no one to help him.

_ No, that's not true._ He refused to believe it. Someone had to be there... someone... He couldn't lose her. Not again. Not after all they'd been through.

Link recalled being trapped underneath the trick floor in Woodfall, when he and his fairy, separated from his ocarina, had awaited death.

_I just wish I could have met this Zelda, or at least gotten you back to her_, she had said to him, both of them knowing the moon wasn't far off.

_Well, you know what, Tatl?_ He felt his eyes beginning to water as he ran, when he remembered his response.

_What, Link?_

_I think... I know... that I'm glad I'm here with you right now._

The first tear fell, but Link wiped it away quickly, shaking his head and not slowing down his pace. _No. No tears. Not yet._

Tatl had then run her fingers through the dust on the wall, drawing a crescent moon with two diagonal lines back-slashing through it. It had been a symbol from some old written language the Skull Kid had known, and it had meant love.

Link had to save her. Losing her was not an alternative. She was all he had left, the only friend in all of existence who had not died or abandoned him.

He reached into his bag and applied his goron mask, rolling much swifter than he had been running and not slowing down.

* * *

_What do I do now? What do I do now?_

Tael flew back and forth nervously, his ball bright and purple as he remained hundreds of feet in the air, over the spot where he and Link had first made eye contact that cycle: the gorge that had once housed dodongos. The moon was dangerously close, and the fairy knew it wouldn't be long before it destroyed Termina.

_What if that dark sorcerer was lying? What if he won't let Tatl go? What will Tatl and I do after everything's destroyed? What if I can't survive the moon, and it kills me anyways, even though I'm all the way up here?_

Tael was far too afraid to get anywhere closer to the ground, not wanting a wave of fire to catch him unaware and end all of this prematurely. He was determined to survive, and had made his deal with the dark sorcerer to do so with his sister.

Tael was still floating back and forth nervously when he saw Link. The boy was far down below, climbing the rock wall to exit the gorge and reach Termina Field. Tael stopped for a moment, looking down at the boy he had abandoned. The fairy was far too high for Link to see him, but that didn't stop Tael from being amazed at his reappearance. Some how, he had come back out of Snowhead alive. He wondered if he had freed the giant.

Tael thought the answer was yes. He wondered if he should go down and say something to him- join him even. He was curious as to how hostile Link would be to him, after having abandoned him and caused him to sleep much longer than he had intended. Tael knew the dark magic from the cave would have him out cold for a while, but he had had no way of being able to wake him after he had left, as bad as he had felt.

_I had to._

Or had he? Would he still be alive, had he followed Link? If he joined him now, would his chances of survival increase? His chances of being reunited with Tatl...?

_No._

He had made his choice. Tael merely watched from above, as Link crawled out of the gorge and began to run the last bit of his journey to the city underneath the hovering moon.

_He's brave, for going back in there, with that _thing_ right above it._

He suddenly remembered what his sister had been shouting from inside of the ReDead faced man's cloak.

... _warn_... _don't_... _trap_... -_ock Town_...

A trap. In Clock Town.

Tael hesitantly went to fly after Link, but stopped himself. If there was a trap waiting for him, it probably involved the creature with the ability to completely control his enemies. The fairy knew Link didn't stand a chance against that, and also knew that he didn't want to follow the boy into his grave.

And so Tael waited, nervously eying the moon and not sure what to do.

* * *

Link dashed through the northern gate. The guard was not there to stop him, and neither was anyone else. He passed across the empty grass field, an emotional pang of nostalgia somewhere within him for finally being back in Clock Town. _But this is not my home._

The moon completely blotted out the sky. The ground quaked and Link nearly fell flat on his face, but he quickly regained his footing. He knew it must be somewhere in between three and four right now, the sunrise not far away. Link knew the moon was closer than it ever had been before, without the Skull Kid tampering with its descent to make it fall sooner. The past two times Link had climbed the tower, a spell from the imp had caused it to come down at midnight. Now, it had been left alone to fall at sunrise.

He came out of North Clock Town to see the back of the clock tower. Link ran down the ramp and around, until he was in the plaza of South Clock Town, where so much had happened. This was where Anju and Tatl had both died, and the Skull Kid had started his chase towards the sewers. This was where he had almost died, after falling the length of the tower.

The wooden observatory that had been built by the carpenters was standing tall, and Mutoh, the carpenters' leader, was in front of it. He knew the angry man never believed the moon would fall, even now. But he remembered that he had run in fear, once the clock tower had actually come crashing down.

"Come to enjoy the carnival?" he asked. "It's about time someone had enough sense to worship the gods respectfully. No one else is here." Link noticed the same. All of the shopping stalls were abandoned. Even the guard manning the South Clock Town gate had fled. "Did you bring masks?"

"Four," Link said, after a moment. He knew it was tradition for all those celebrating to wear the masks they'd made on the night the carnival finally came. But the streets were deserted, as he knew they would be. Link was currently standing in between the man and the clock tower doors. He looked at the heavy wooden things, as decorated as they were. He was afraid to open them and find nothing on the other side.

"Someone's eager." Mutoh looked back at the moon, shifting uneasily before looking back down and repressing the fear that had momentarily overtaken him. The ground shook and the bells rang, Link looking at the clock to see the time. _3:52_. The light at the top of the tower continued rotating, passing over Termina and its abandoned fields.

Link took a deep breath, turning from Mutoh and walking towards the clock tower doors.

"Where are you going?" he asked. The carpenter sounded almost afraid to be left alone.

"Under the tower."

The big, burly leader of the carpenters looked up. The moon was headed to crash directly into it.

"But no one goes under there," he said.

"That's where I came from," Link said. "Get out of here as soon as you can. Maybe you can find shelter before it comes down. It will as soon as the clock strikes six." He was just in front of the doors now, giving into his fear a moment longer by turning back around.

"Hah!" Mutoh exclaimed, feigning laughter. "It's not going to fall! Cowards! All of you! If you're gonna fall, then FALL all ready!"

Link sighed, turning away from him to look at the door's smooth wooden surface. He placed his hand on the wood. It was warm.

Link looked back at the moon, and at the tiny stretches of sky visible just above the town walls. The sky really was red here. The bells rang with no one but the two of them to hear. Clock Town on the final night was easily the scariest place he had ever been. _Aside from the Skull Kid's cave._

The boy turned back to the door. _Please. Please let the mask salesman be behind here._ But his gut still told him he would not find what he was looking for. His heart was in his throat as he pushed the doors open, clinging to a memory of Tatl as he stepped inside.

* * *

The wooden beam sticking up through the floor was still turning, as were the other cogs in the tower. He hadn't been here since he'd been healed, and yet it kept going, as if the moon was not about to knock it over. Water was rushing from far below, the wooden platform he was on a large stage, hidden in the darkness of the tower.

Across the room, leaning against the railing, was the mask salesman.

He was much taller without his heavy pack of masks slung over his shoulders, the bag up against the wall to his left. His upper-class, purple Hylian robes still adorned him, his red hair dark in the tower. The nighttime light shined through openings somewhere up above, and so Link allowed the door behind him to slowly creak shut. His back was too him. The man was peering over the railing, seeming deep in thought.

Link smiled broadly when he saw him, but the smile faltered when the man did not turn to greet him. He must have heard him enter the room. Link walked down the stairs regardless of his failure to react, stopping when he was beside the turning pole. The mask salesman still had not turned around.

"Oh, you?" He spoke without facing him, his voice as cheery as it had been in previous encounters. Then the mask salesman, finally, turned, the robe swishing at this feet. His eyes were squinted, as they always were, a smile smaller than usual on his face. He appeared much more menacing without a crooked back. "Were you able to get Majora's Mask back?"

The turning of the wooden wheels and the running water was, at first, the only thing to answer him.

"No," Link said. He forgot why he had come here for a moment, but then remembered that he had in the hopes that this man knew where Tatl was.

"You still haven't done it?" he inquired calmly, taking a couple of steps away from the railing. "I keep telling you that if you don't get it back soon, terrible things will happen. Only two hours remain, but time is not eternal. Please make the most of your time."

Link's face must have showed his disbelief at what he'd said, because the mask salesman's smile faltered slightly. "What am I supposed to do... in two hours?" He didn't respond. "The moon is literally bigger than this entire town. How am I supposed to stop all of us from dying, in two hours?" He knew the mask salesman knew, but he wanted him to say it. He wanted him to admit that he knew Link was traveling back in time.

His response was cool and calculated. Link almost missed the emotionally unstable man he had been on his last visit. "Surely you should be able to do something." Link was in awe at how gracefully he continued to avoid his questions. "Believe in your strengths... Belie-"

"No." Link shook his head. "I know you know about my ocarina. And I'm not even here to ask why you pretended you didn't. I just..." Link paused, before making himself go on. "I need to know where Tatl is."

"Tatl?"

"My fairy. Someone took her, and I don't know who, but you... seem to know things. Do you... know where she is?" He realized how foolish the questioned sounded, and was almost ashamed for having asked it. But this man knew things he shouldn't have been able to, so he'd been hoping against hope.

"Why would I know where your fairy is?"

Link knew the response had been coming before he'd even said it. "... I don't know. You just, seem to know things."

"I just, seem to know things?" he repeated, mocking him. Link wasn't sure why the atmosphere felt so dark. He felt himself being tempted to leave, to just turn around and run back through the clock tower doors. Despite the instinct, he kept his feet planted. "Did you forget why you're here?" Link didn't say anything, but the mask salesman spared him of having to.

"You're here to bring me Majora's Mask. That was the favor I asked of you originally when we first met. I kept my end of the deal by healing you, and you... well, you didn't. So, tell me, Link. Why would I do you another favor when you still haven't paid me back for the first one?" Link opened his mouth for words, but couldn't find any. "Besides, as I reminded you, the only reason you're still here is to bring me the mask. You're not here to save fairies. There'll be another one waiting for you after you play your Song of Time, just like this one was.

"... Sorry to be so rude, but I'm a very busy fellow, and cannot dwell here much longer. I _need_ that mask, and saving that fairy would just be a distraction. There isn't enough time for you to do anything about it anyways. You must play the song, and continue your journey. The new fairy will be just as dutiful as the last."

Link only half-heartedly took in his words, however. When the mask salesman had stopped squinting, revealing his eyes more so than he had before, something about them seemed to call his attention. They were dark eyes, but they were shining brightly as he spoke. They were familiar; he was recognizing something about them that he never had before.

He remembered his trek along the trail toward Snowhead. He had saved Gorbus, and the goron had accused him of having Darmani's face. Link had held the goron mask in his hand, staring down into it. _No, it's not a face. It's just a mask_, had been his response. _Just a mask... just a mask..._

The creature with the face of a ReDead. He had been so close to having the revelation before the second avalanche had occurred. The face of a ReDead. Not a face. Just a mask. Both times the ReDead creature had taken control of him, he'd seen a pair of eyes behind the dark, empty pits of the ReDead's. Appearing to be beneath the surface of the face. The mask.

Those eyes were shining back at him now.

"It was you..." Link backed away slowly, his blue eyes wide with fear. His heart began to beat wildly in his chest. The fear was no longer just a suspicion. "You kidnapped Tatl."

The mask salesman's eyes widened at the accusation. He seemed taken back, caught off guard; for a brief moment, Link saw real emotion in his face, not the charade he had given him in all of the visits before. "What?" was all he managed to stammer.

"You're that the thing with the ReDead face!" Link exclaimed, standing tall when he realized he'd caught him off guard. "Except it wasn't a face, was it? You tried to hide it with your hood and cloak, but I still saw your eyes. It was just a mask."

The mask salesman looked at him blankly. The two stood across from each other silently, the noises of the tower as active as they always were. Another earthquake occurred, the foundations of the tower groaning for the first time.

He smiled, laughing softly to himself in the way he always did, his eyes squinting again. Link's bravery began to disappear as soon as it had come. He had had the upper hand for only a moment, but the mask salesman appeared to be perfectly capable of creating his plans impromptu. He put his hands behind his back, looking away as he paced, his eyes squinted again as the facade of happiness returned.

"I was known in Hyrule as the Man of Many Faces, or the Man without a Face, the Dealer of Faces, the Mask Thief, the Dark Sorcerer... but none have sounded quite as stupid as Thing-with-the-ReDead-Face. It's amazing how much easier people fear you when they don't know your name."

Link realized he didn't, even then. The mask salesman was still just that. The boy stared at the man across from him angrily, hoping he was hiding his fear, and trying his best to read the face of the figure who'd stolen his friend.

"This doesn't change anything, really. I would have appreciated you remaining as dull as you've always been, as you can always trust the hero type to be. I was hoping all of my secrets would die with Tatl."

"_Where is she?_" Link asked, his voice threatening. His mind went to the Gilded Sword he had just acquired.

"You're an even bigger fool than I thought if you think I'd tell you that. I wasn't lying when I said the only reason you were here was to get my mask. If you know what's best for you, you'll turn around and leave.. and come back once you've slain the imp."

"I'm not bringing you the mask," Link said, pacing himself to remain across from the mask salesman, the spinning pole between them the entire time. "Not now that I know who you are."

"Oh, you know who I am?" the dark sorcerer inquired mockingly. "Do tell then. Because it seems to me you've merely removed _that_ mask to find another!"

"You don't know what Majora's Mask is capable of if you want it brought to you," Link said, his blue eyes fierce. "It infects... anything that comes in contact with its magic. It slayed an entire fortress of pirates. It killed the witches in the forest, and laid siege to this whole town."

"I'm aware," the mask salesman said. "At least for that last one. I was _there_." _How?_ Link thought to himself. _How could this man possibly know so much and be everywhere at once?_ A million questions buzzed through his head, but the mask salesman continued talking, the two of them no longer circling each other once they ended in the spots they'd began in. "Besides, my magic exceeds anything you've seen before. I can control it."

"That's exactly what that tribe all those years ago thought, too. Koume and Kotake told me. They sealed it away into some distant realm, thinking they were rid of it for good. But it escaped. It overcame their magic and broke out. And now all of these terrible things are happening. It has to be destroyed."

The mask salesman stopped abruptly, his face appearing confused momentarily. The smile soon returned, however, and he laughed lightly again. "Broke out? Escaped? You really don't know anything, do you? What gave you that silly idea?"

Link began speaking, but stumbled over his words, now confused himself. "What are you talking about? The mask is here, isn't it? It had to have broken out."

"My dear boy. Termina _is_ the dark realm the mask was sealed away to."

Link's mind tried to process it, as his gaze fell to the floor. He was at a loss for words. Understanding slowly came to him, and he saw all of the pieces, and suddenly they were falling into place. _No... that's not... That can't be true..._

"No...," Link breathed, shaking his head.

"Yes," the mask salesman said, nodding his head swiftly as he took a step forward. "Haven't you wondered why no one here knows of Hyrule? Haven't you stopped to think about why there are so many familiar faces, but none of them remember _you_? Weren't you curious as to why no one ever leaves here, and is scared of the knowledge waiting for them on the other side of the borders?

"It's because they're scared, Link. They're afraid of the truth. Deep down, they know they're nothing. They know that if they look deep enough, all they will find is a shadow, because that's all they truly are. These people are merely husks of people from other words, because that is all this place is. A realm of shadows."

Link's head was swimming with all of the things Tatl had said. She had been so frightened, telling him all the things the cave had told her. She had said the walls had told her she was nothing, a shadow, nonexistent. Anju had never heard of Hyrule, and didn't understand how anyone could have come from outside of Termina. They had all looked at him so queerly when he had stumbled out of the clock tower doors for the first time.

"The witches obviously didn't care what the mask would do to the inhabitants of this realm. They thought it would be safely stored away here, and knew that blood could not be spilt where only shadows strolled about."

"And you want to free it?" Link inquired. Part of him still denied what this man claimed was Termina's true nature, but there were other things he needed to know.

"I want its power," the dark sorcerer explained. "And you should too."

"Why would I want anything to do with it?" Link asked, his face revolted. "After all the terrible things it's done to these people, after learning all the things it's capable of..."

"These aren't real people, Link," the mask salesman told him. "Stop pretending they're something they're not."

"_I love her!_" He yelled, Link's face now red.

"Then your love is misplaced. A shadow doesn't have a heart."

Link shook his head, smiling to himself in anger when he thought of what to say next. "Yet you're trying to bring one out of here, aren't you? Majora's Mask is the most dangerous shadow here."

"Majora isn't a shadow! Are you soft in the head? Have you been listening to anything I've said? You, me, and that mask are the only things here that are real. Everything else out there is merely a magic trick!"

"It doesn't matter what Majora is. It's still going to destroy you if you ever take it from here, and all of Hyrule, too."

"No, Link. Majora isn't going to destroy all of Hyrule." He said it as if he knew something Link didn't, some terrible truth hidden behind those eyes. Link looked into them and wasn't sure he wanted to know. The boy's eyes were already beginning to water from all he'd learned thus far, but he had to fight them back. He couldn't let this man know how weak he was...

"The prophecies I've heard are all about to come true. Not long from now, the great evil that you were so certain you had vanquished will rise again, and it will destroy Hyrule." Link could only stand and listen, all hope beginning to leave him. "A great flood will wash all you've ever loved away, and Hyrule castle will sit at the bottom of a great sea. Nothing can stop it; every man, women, and child who lives and breathes will drown.

"Nothing except Majora's Mask. The demon residing within that mask has power unparalleled by anything throughout history. When I get it back, and control it, maybe some of us will stand a chance. The alternative, if the mask is left here untouched, is death."

Link recalled the paintings he had seen within the Skull Kid's cave. They had been of Hyrule, a great wave crashing through to claim the lives of thousands...

"You don't understand..."

"I understand," the mask salesman said. "I understand that if we leave it here, it will escape Termina on its own accord. You made it through the cave, Link. Now, tell me; what did you see on the other side?" Link didn't reply. His brow remained furrowed, his eyes angry. He knew that the dark sorcerer already knew the answer. "What you saw was the mask's doing. You see, the Skull Kid is not the only creature to find the mask in its possession. History is repeating itself over and over again, in this realm of shadows; what you saw on the other side of Snowhead is what the mask intends to create with the moon.

"One way or another, Majora reduces the land around it to ash. Slowly, it has destroyed every land within this realm... until only this one remains- Clock Town and the areas in each cardinal direction. Once the moon falls, Termina's destruction will be complete, and the mask will finally have a way to leave this realm, after generations of imprisonment. Now, we don't want _that_, do we? The mask would be much more useful aiding the cause of the living; that could happen if I were to bring it out on my terms. The monster meant to drown Hyrule will be nothing compared to the wrath Majora would unfold were it to enter the world on its own."

"Which is why we should destroy it," Link said. "You wouldn't be able to control it."

"Do you think I decided to do this overnight? Do you think this plan is something I haven't dedicated my life to? You have no idea how much thought I've put into obtaining this mask, how much time and effort it has taken to find Termina, to figure out how to get here, to figure out how to get _you_ here."

"Why can't you just get the mask yourself? If you think you're going to be able to control Majora, then you should be able to get it on your own."

"I tried," he stated, as simply as that. "No matter what, every time I take it, _something_ happens to make me lose it. I don't dare put it on or use its power until I have it back in Hyrule, but carrying it out- I'm foiled every time. Maybe a freak avalanche separates me from it, or a storm rips it from my hand... or a skull kid robs me...

"The witches that sealed the mask away here were very particular with the spells they placed to guard it, and made it near impossible to get it out. Their magic has prevented someone like me from ever walking out of here with it. But you... someone like you... a hero. You were the only one who that magic would elude. They never thought the likes of you would find your way here to take it. Rightfully, they only worried about the threat a sorcerer like me could pose."

Link took it in, glancing down at the floor as he thought. The mask salesman had been the simple piece tying it all together. It was him; every string that had been pulled had been by his command.

"But...," the boy began, swallowing. "I rode into that hole and fell. That's how I got to Termina. I found it." But even as he said it, he knew it was a lie.

"I'm sure that's what you remember," the mask salesman said. "That's what I wanted you to remember, you and the Skull Kid's fairies. I brought them under the clock tower to the place where I knew you would appear, by offering the imp something he couldn't refuse: your ocarina. He played his part, even though I knew you would eventually need the ocarina back... But he didn't need to know that."

"So... that's it then?" Link inquired, looking up, his blue eyes filled with the sadness they always seemed to reflect. "But why did you have to take Tatl? Why did you just take her from me and leave me in the snow to die?"

"I didn't leave you there to die," he said. "That goron was coming. If I killed you, that would waste all the preparation it took to getting you here. While you're capable of walking out of here with the mask in hand... getting you here is a different story. It is a realm of shadows; it's not meant for people brimming with life, hope, and love... optimism. I had to take those things from you to bring you here.

"And for you to get your job done... well... I need to make sure those things keep their distance from you. Falling in love with the shadows here is dangerous; they're not real, Link. How many times do I have to tell you? Your positive emotional attachment to Tatl puts everything in jeopardy. But taking away things you loved wasn't enough. I had to make _you_ chose to leave them behind. That's why I didn't kill Tatl.

"By playing the Song of Time, and abandoning her even though you know she's alive, to save your own life, you render yourself into one of the shadows around you. But, importantly, one that can retrieve the mask, and bring it back. You had to be an emotionless husk to come here, and you must become one again, so the darkness will drink your sorrow and betrayal like a cup of tea, and make you my servant."

Link stared at him, aghast.

"I wouldn't be having this lovely chat with you if I wasn't trying to waste the last bit of time left in this cycle. There's no way you can save her, Link. You have no idea where she is, and there's hardly two hours left."

Link didn't say anything, staring at him blankly.

"So, tell me, boy. What is your love for that shadow worth? How selfish are you, to treasure your own happiness over the lives of everyone in Hyrule? You must let her go, for you cannot hope to obtain the mask with any emotional flaws. I'm just trying to help."

_I'm just trying to help._ The mask salesman had said the same thing to him while he had been crying in front of Zelda's tombstone.

Then, Link's bright eyes flashed. The boy looked at the dark sorcerer with a horrific expression that the mask salesman hadn't been expecting.

"Did you..." Link found the words hard to conjure, choking when they caught in the back of his throat. He looked down at first, and then back up at the dark sorcerer before him, his head shaking, nostrils flaring. "Did you kill Zelda?"

Only the sounds of the turning pole and the water filled the silence.

"I did what I had to. To save Hyrule."

Once again, the wooden wheels working busily and the swishing liquids were the only sounds.

Link screamed, sliding the sword from his scabbard and running at the mask salesman at full speed. The dark sorcerer appeared to have been prepared for such an attack, however. His hands gracefully reached into his robes and pulled out a mask. In the same fluid motion, it went over his face, and Link caught its design a moment before he put it on. It appeared to be rather bland and featureless, a rock with crude eyes and a mouth carved into it.

As soon as it touched his face, the mask salesman vanished, and Link stopped short, having been moments away from slashing him to bits. He looked around to see where he had disappeared to, but found him no where. Link listened closely for some sign or sound, but there were only the sounds of the clock tower.

"I'm not sure you realize exactly who you've crossed swords with." The mask salesman's voice came from his left, but when he turned to look, he saw nothing. "You will do what I ask of you, Link. This would have been so much easier if you had just left when I told you to."

The boy spun around, sword held in front of him, breathing in and out heavily as his heart continued to hammer.

Then he saw the mask salesman, back against the railing where he had first been. He was wearing the ReDead mask.

Instantly, the blood in his veins was frozen, and Link lost all movement. He was forced to stare into the black pits, but this time the dark sorcerer was not wearing his black robe, hood, or gloves. The boy felt himself trembling terribly, the pain causing his muscles to ache as it always did. "You are nothing but a pawn. Tatl realized that. Tatl resigned to the fate I gave her."

Link's left hand twisted backward terribly, his golden sword flying from his fingers and bouncing off of the floor behind him. He was unable to grit his teeth in pain, or even look away, forced to stare into the fake eyes of his attacker. His lips trembled, tears pouring openly from his eyes.

"You will get me that mask." Link was forced to his knees, his legs painfully bending downward as the masked salesman walked towards him. "Even if I have to walk you up that tower myself." With each word, one of Link's limbs was twisted awkwardly out of place, as if to emphasize each time that he had complete control of him.

"I can't kill you, but I can make all the emotional pain you've felt physical." He continued approaching Link, now only steps away from him. "Remember how powerless you feel. Remember how out of control you truly are. I'm always in control, even when I don't wear my mask. You're nothing. Maybe when I'm done with you, I can turn you into a mask too, and you can join the collection." The ReDead face was now just in front of his own, the mask salesman bending down so their noses were practically touching.

"I own you," he whispered softly. "Navi learned. Tatl learned. Tael learned. Anju learned. Zelda learned." The mask salesman saw a spark in Link's eyes at the mention of his beloved, and the sorcerer's smile became even more twisted from behind the mask. "The poison I slipped into her water racked her with pain. Did I tell you she writhed in agony in her final moments? It was so cleverly done; not even the maester thought to question whether or not it was actually a disease."

He bent down beside Link's ear now, whispering so softly, it might have been the wind. "She screamed for you. But you weren't there to save her."

When the mask salesman pulled himself back from Link's ear, he found that he wasn't looking into dark blue eyes. The entire eye ball was bright purple.

The dark sorcerer raised an eyebrow in confusion, but suddenly found some invisible source striking him in the stomach. The mask salesman flew backwards, across the room, mouth wide and 'o' shaped as he slammed into the railing on the other side. He quickly looked at Link, who was getting to his feet, as he scrambled to his own. Even though he looked into Link's now purple eyes, the boy was not under his control. Some how he was fighting the mask's effects.

_That's impossible._

"_**Where's Tatl?**_" Link asked, but the voice was not his own. Anger was etched into every line of his face, as his purple eyes bore at the enemy across from him dangerously.

"I... I...," the mask salesman was suddenly sweating nervously. He threw the ReDead mask off onto the floor, hoping direct eye contact would help. "I... I don't know... I gave her to the Skull Kid... please... She's not dead... You don't understand..."

Link began to move his arms in circular motions, as if preparing to do something. The mask salesman's eyes widened even further at the sight of this, his eyes no where close to squinting and his mouth no where close to smiling.

The tower began to shake as another earthquake was felt all across Termina.

"... _It's Hyrule's only hope!_... _Every one's going to die... I had to! Link, listen!_"

But it wasn't Link who was listening.

He pointed his fingertips at the man in the purple robes, and a purple bolt of lightning was born at their end. It struck the mask salesman directly in the chest, and he spiraled over the railing, falling down below and out of sight.

The earthquake ended.

* * *

"She screamed for you. But you weren't there to save her."

Suddenly, Link was not under the tower with the mask salesman. He was on a beach, looking at the ocean rocking back and forth across the sandy shore. The night sky was beautiful, the stars reflected in the waters underneath. He turned his head involuntarily to his left, and there was Tatl.

She was in a bottle that rested in a rather deep, sandy trench with a rocky, dirt-packed bottom. The fairy looked sad, sitting at the bottom of the bottle and hardly even seeing as she looked out at the world.

Then, an earthquake shook the beach. Tatl hardly noticed, watching the waves crash but not appreciating their beauty.

* * *

The earthquake ended, and suddenly Link was standing. He blinked, confused. He looked down at his hands to make sure he was actually there inside of the clock tower, but looked up to see that he couldn't find the mask salesman anywhere. Link was breathing deeply, and felt the odd, pleasurable feeling of satisfaction from the scar on his chest. The boy, shakily, approached the railing on the other side of the tower and looked over.

The mask salesman lay on the ramp far below, mouth agape. His arms and legs were at awkward angles, and he didn't move. A scorch mark was burnt into his chest, the clothing there disintegrated as well.

Link's hands released the bar he clung to as he shook. He was now alone; only the sounds of his heart beat and breathing accompanied him, alone with the dark deed he had committed. Link's mind went to what he saw while possessed by the dark magic and realized what it meant.

He instantly ran for his sword and then the clock tower doors, flinging them open and running out into the South Clock Town plaza. Mutoh was gone, but he hardly noticed. Link ran to his right, towards where he knew Termina's beach lay, to the west. The town bells rang with every footstep he took, as the final minutes until the end of the world ticked away.

* * *

He coughed, blood coming and dribbling down his chin onto the wood. The mask salesman shuttered, the pain surreal as his only working hand gingerly touched the wound he had suffered. His left arm was broken and his legs screamed in pain, but it was the lightning bolt that would kill him.

He groaned as he put out his one working arm to drag himself along the ramp. His purple robe was soaked with his own blood, sagging against the floor as it ran out all around him.

_I have to make it to my masks. I have to make it to my masks, or I'll die._

He shook terribly as he crawled, but he wasn't sure if he would make it.

_What have I done?_ The mask had infected the boy. If Link ever returned to Hyrule, or he failed to stop the imp...

_Then all of the worlds will end in fire._

He had to survive. The mask salesman pulled himself up another inch along the slope, the pain excruciating.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

SCAG: Thank you! Events regarding the fates of Link, Tatl, and Tael will unfold in the chapters to follow.

Candygirl: Haha, was your question answered? And yes, Tatl does appear to be in quite the pickle... thank you for the compliment, though!

EX-MARK: Thanks! And an interesting suggestion; that would definitely be eerily reflective of the Skull Kid's own wrath. I have most of the story planned out thus far, so we'll see how far Link descends into darkness when he does meet the pirates.

Quill: Thank you very much! Your compliment definitely made me smile; I'm trying my best to do the story justice, and I'm glad you think I already have. I hope you like the chapters to follow just as much.

Grammar Police: Uh-huh. I will admit, "past" and "passed" is something I've always been confused by, but I finally overcame years of laziness to commit it to memory before posting this one, so as to avoid future run-ins with the fan fiction grammar police. I try to revise as much as I can, but this story is very long and in need of third person editing to be completely flawless aesthetically and posted in a timely manner. It's hard to catch all of one's mistakes, and I try my best. There are some instances where rules of grammar are broken on purpose, however, such as when sentences start with "But" or "And", or are incomplete with just a noun like: "The clock tower." It helps aid flow, which I believe does come before adhering strictly to grammatical correctness in some instances. But I apologize for spelling errors and places where grammatical errors are accidental and clunky.

P.S.: Thanks for the compliment in your post script note.


	36. Realm of Shadows, Part 2

_Chapter 36: Realm of Shadows, Part 2_

Link ran.

His boots came down on dirt and grass. The feet within them were aching terribly. His brown bag was snuggly around his shoulder, the pouch against his right side as he ran. The shoulder on the left side of his tunic had been ripped off, and a festering wound lay underneath, it bright red and sensitive to touch, open to the cool night wind. His blonde hair was coming out from underneath his green hat, and his blue eyes were fixated ahead of him. His breath was deep and rhythmic as he sprinted.

And he was running. As he had been for around an hour. There must have been another hour left until the sun rose, and he imagined the rest of the journey to the west coast usually lasted at least that long. But he had to get there sooner. Tatl was somewhere there, imprisoned within a glass bottle to spend the last remaining hour of her life. He had to get there before it was too late.

It was all too familiar of a situation. With Zelda, he had reached her bedroom door mere hours after she had died. He had watched as Anju had arced high into the air after the explosion at her feet, and had held her hand as she died. He had played the Song of Time moments too late and lost the Tatl he had come here with. Navi had had her neck snapped by the dark sorcerer, before Link had had time to realize what was happening. Now he found himself running to save a loved one again.

He wasn't sure if he had ever run harder in his life, for such a long period of time. The exhausting string of events leading him up to his moment should have left him incapable of even a jog, but somehow he had found the energy to keep going. Because he had to. Because if he didn't, Tatl would die.

_I can't lose her, too. Please. If there really are gods watching over me, then please... help me. Help her. No more death. Please._

The sky was still red and purple, but the stars were beginning to vanish as it brightened with the approach of day. The moon shook all of Termina again, and Link stumbled forward before catching his balance. He couldn't slow down; stopping to take a break might mean the end.

The apocalypse was dangerously close. It would begin when the moon made contact with the ground, and it would end only seconds later. He imagined the world around him in flames, the grass and trees becoming torches to bring forth Majora's wrath. With the land in ashes, the mask would be able to leave Termina. Finally free of the realm the ancient tribes had locked it away in, it would destroy Hyrule, before it could be buried under the ocean.

If everything the mask salesman had told him was true, then it appeared that Hyrule was doomed no matter what happened- unless the mask could be controlled and its power used for good. Link didn't think that was possible; ever since his second night on top of the clock tower, the mask had been starting to control _him_.

_No. Don't think about anything else. Tatl. That's all that matters right now._

He passed through the door surrounding Clock Town and the fountains spewing water a while ago and had since hit sand. He didn't think rolling would be quite as fast as in it, his goron form heavier and potentially sinking much easier. He hadn't wasted the time to check, either.

Rock walls had begun on either side of him, the land on his left and right inclining into a plateau. He was passing through the sand-floored gap in between them when he reached a tall white wall, running from end to end. It was pointed at the top in the middle, and had a blue wave decorating it. Link grabbed onto the non-pointed end and climbed over it easily, landing on the other side and continuing to run.

Then he found himself stumbling, unable to keep going. He was going to collapse if he didn't take a break, and so he stopped, leaning against the wall and panting. Link reached into his bag and pulled out what remained of the health potion, barely allowing himself to gulp in air as he swallowed the red liquid. It burned, but he felt energy returning to his body, masking the exhaustion plaguing his every muscle.

_These aren't real people, Link. Stop pretending they're something they're not_.

_No_, he thought stubbornly.

_You're love is misplaced. A shadow doesn't have a heart._

He remembered the crescent moon, and the diagonal lines: the drawing on the wall. Love. _You're wrong,_ Link thought to himself. _She does have a heart_. It didn't matter what she was; it didn't matter what Termina was. He and Tatl loved each other. If anything, that was what their adventure together had proven, no matter what the dark sorcerer said.

An earthquake knocked him off of the wall, and he got sand in his tunic when he fell. Link quickly scurried back to his feet, hardly having caught his breath. The health potion, however, let him push on, and so he did. He put the last bit remaining in his bag. Running... running... running... He might die of exhaustion before he ever reached Tatl. The sand absorbed some of the speed he could have gained otherwise, but this hindrance had to be overcome.

_I can't give up. I promised her I would never leave her behind._

He was running for perhaps another half hour, only pausing when his body would not go any further. If his inner clock was correct, he only had around thirty minutes before they would all die. There was hardly a break in between the earthquakes now. Link refused to let his mind go back to his ocarina. He couldn't abandon her as the mask salesman wanted him to. But with every step he took, time slipped away, and made that the only option.

Then he saw the shore.

The ocean appeared monstrous, the waves swirling and spraying hundreds of feet into the air far out across the dark blue depths. It was tumultuous, the body of water threatening to tear apart even the strongest ship that might try to brave its waters. The shore itself had probably receded quite a bit, the waves that were crashing out onto it savagely eating away at the land. The sky above it was clear and oddly colored. Night was almost gone as the sun rose somewhere in the canyons, but the purple and red colors had not quite vanished, as if the moon was permanently affecting the condition of the sky. It mixed with the orange and blue, remaining foreboding over the sea storm it hung above.

He looked left and right, but he didn't see her. The shore went in each direction for quite a while, curving out of sight both north and south. Out at the land's end, the remnants of what might have been a pier was left; whatever building or dock had been at the end had been torn away by the raging ocean. The water touched the brightening horizon. The sunrise was less than half an hour away, he knew.

Link had no way of knowing whether Tatl lay to the left or right, and he realized his choice might be the deciding factor as to whether or not he saved her. No matter which way he chose, he would have to keep running in that direction, to make sure she wasn't anywhere along the shore. If he chose the wrong way, he wasn't sure he would have enough time to backtrack to try the other way. Despite the severity of the consequences regarding his choice, there wasn't time to stand there and think about it.

Link ran left.

The sand was pulling his boots down as the ocean angrily roared on his right. He passed the roots of a palm tree, the rest of the plant missing. Eventually, the shore ran through a circular cave, and he came out the other side to see more sand and more beach.

_Should I turn back?_

No, he had to keep going. If he stopped and turned around, he would never know what lie further down, and that could be where his fairy was. Link continued his pace, foam spraying his face as a massive wave crashed near him. The shore curved around to the left, Link passing tall black columns that stood high out of the water. They appeared to be stepping stones leading to a cave, but they were bombarded by constant blasts of water that made traversing them impossible.

Link kept going.

He followed the curve of the shore for several minutes, and then he saw where it ended.

The sandy path diverged from the shore, which ended at a rocky wall; it instead cut further back into the land, going on for a bit before hitting a massive wall. The wall towered high into the air around two hundred feet, and the top quarter of it was made entirely of wood and tightly wedged boulders. The dam seemed secure, all water behind it kept from spilling out into a sandy trench leading from the wall's bottom all the way back out into the ocean.

Tatl was sitting in her bottle, in the middle of the trench.

The Skull Kid was floating in the air beside her.

The masked imp stared out at the catastrophic ocean of Great Bay, its true eyes hidden behind those of Majora. Link stopped running as soon as he came around the rocky lip blocking the scene from his view. A boulder sloping up and away from him still separated him from being viewed by them, but Link didn't even take a moment to hide behind it.

He ran out to stand before the imp, who floated in between him and his lost friend. The Skull Kid looked over his shoulder to find the boy standing far below. Tatl's eyes soon found him as well, floating up within her bottle ecstatically.

After all this time, there was only a small stretch of sand separating them. And the imp.

The Skull Kid merely stared down at Link with the mask's bright orange orbs, the boy looking back at him with angry blue ones. The ocean swirled menacingly in the distance as the night dwindled into day.

"I'm here for Tatl." Link spoke loudly and threateningly.

The Skull Kid didn't respond.

"I'm not playing games anymore. Let me walk away with her and we can go our separate ways."

Still nothing.

Link drew his bow, notching an arrow and aiming it at the Skull Kid, floating high above the sand separating him from his fairy. There was no time to waste. Minutes. There were only minutes left.

"Please. No one has to die." The ocean continued splashing about madly, despite the clear skies above it. The earth shook. "If you don't move, I'm going to shoot you." Thirty seconds later, the ground was still shaking and Link still had his bow notched. "I'm not going to tell you again." The ground stopped shaking. _Please. Just let this work._

Link released the string.

The Skull Kid gracefully spun out of the way, rising his arm to create a ball of purple fire in his place. The arrow flew through it instead, coming out of the other side flaming and violet. Link's eyes widened when he saw where it was headed: the dam. His own arrow stuck through a wooden portion right in the center of it, but it was the Skull Kid's fire that began to spread across it. His eyes then went down to the trench, which Tatl was directly in the middle of.

"_No!_" He ran for his fairy, no longer paying attention to the imp. Tatl stared at him with wide eyes as he ran for her, unable to do anything but watch.

The ground exploded at his feet before he'd hardly taken two steps. As he arced into the air, he remembered Anju doing the same, except sand surrounded him instead of stone. Link landed feet from the sloped boulder he had come out from behind, covered in sand with red in his vision. Blood dotted the ground, and his stomach was racked with pain. Everything was blurred as he lifted his head to see his bow just in front of him. The string had snapped. Red mangled flesh appeared where skin on his lower torso had been, a hole in the green cloth.

Link was unable to stumble to his feet as he saw the Skull Kid flying down towards him. The pain was too intense, and so he pulled out the health potion and drank the last of it. He got to his feet, the wound's debilitating effects kept at bay.

The Skull Kid was already in front of him, and so Link threw the empty bottle at the imp and pulled out his shield. The Skull Kid tossed the bottle aside with the back of his hand, bringing it back down with dark fire. It cut through the air to strike the piece of metal Link was using to defend himself, fire rippling off of the surface and curling into the air like snakes. He had hardly gotten to his feet, but managed to step backwards before the force of the attack could push him over. The heat filled the air, and the boy found it hard to breathe. He had no stamina left... he was wounded... the air around him was baking...

As soon as the fire stopped, Link lashed out from behind his shield with the Gilded Sword. His stomach screamed out in protest, but the potion was helping him overcome the pain.

The imp dodged the sword, slamming his fist into the ground to send sand in all directions. Some got in Link's eyes, but he was only able to blink them for a moment, a ring of fire appearing around the imp and expanding. The boy brought his shield up as he was still struggling to overcome the bits of sand, the circular line of fire hitting it and knocking him off his feet again.

Now behind the sloped boulder, Link quickly got to his feet, the Skull Kid flying out of the cloud of sand he had created. _The pain._ Though the health potion was working at keeping him going despite the wound, the physical exertion wasn't helping.

The Skull Kid sent another ball of fire at him, Link now too far away to use his sword. The boy eyed the slope and rolled out of the way of the dark magic towards it, as he slid his sword away. He pulled the goron mask out as he ran towards the boulder. The Skull Kid flew to be at its other end, sending another sphere of fire his way.

But Link had suddenly become a goron. The imp's eyes widened when the boy was suddenly curled into himself, spinning towards the sloped boulder and gliding across its surface. The Skull Kid was barely able to overcome his shock to avoid Link's hard rock body rolling into the air after him. Link, upon missing, slammed his body into the ground to perform a goron pound, sending a much larger sand cloud into the air than the Skull Kid had.

The sand was sent straight into the air in a jet stream, hitting the imp and sending him into the ground he'd only been floating inches of above. The Skull Kid wiped the sand off of his mask when a golden sword broke through the cloud of dirt obscuring his view. He sidestepped it, the blade swiping an inch in front of the surface of Majora.

Link, once again human, did not relent. He swung his sword time and time again, the Skull Kid sidestepping each one but slowly losing his footing.

Link's eyes were blue and angry, yelling each time he swiped his sword. He was physically exhausted. His blood had been spilt. He was masking a grievous injury's effects with a potion. The dam separating Tatl from being bombarded by gallons of water was burning. The moon was less than fifteen minutes away from crushing Termina. Link swung his sword mercilessly, striking to kill.

The Skull Kid went to fly out of the cloud, but Link swung at his head next, taking a step closer each time the imp went back. He wasn't giving his masked enemy a moment to recuperate, to cast a spell.

The imp barely dodged the swing that went above his head, but Link exposed himself the moment he had swung the bade that high.

The Skull Kid's eyes narrowed from behind Majora's Mask, finally regaining an instant to do something ever since the sand had knocked him down. _Enough is enough_, the imp thought.

He shot out his hand before Link had time to bring his sword down. The Skull Kid's hand wrapped around Link's wrist, twisting it back. The boy screamed in pain, it already swore from being twisted by the mask salesman. The Gilded Sword fell from his hand, falling into the sand by his side. Link tried to bring over his right fist into the Skull Kid's face, but the imp caught that with the other hand. The imp twisted Link's left arm around his back, shoving him forward as the boy screamed out in pain.

They were face to face, Majora's orange orbs staring into his shining blue eyes.

"You have something that's mine." The Skull Kid then placed his hand on Link's chest, directly over the scar. Suddenly, the boy felt unbelievable pain there. The soreness of the wound was now returning, as if the bruise was once again revitalized and fresh. Something seemed to be stirring within the scar, at the touch of the imp's hand.

Link's eyes turned bright purple, and suddenly he was looking at himself through the Skull Kid. The imp kept his hand in place, the boy appearing incapable of doing anything. Then, the masked sorcerer slowly drew his hand back away from his chest, bringing something with it. The green tunic in that area melted away, revealing what appeared to be purple goop. It was being extracted from within the scar, pulled out back towards the imp.

The pain. The pain was worse than the pain in his wound and tired legs, arms, and feet combined.

The pure concentration of dark magic being removed from Link began to wrap itself around the Skull Kid's fingers, returning to its master. The boy's eyes were still purple, and he was still seeing them from the imp. But he still felt his own pain, and wished he could turn away from watching his own agony. He watched as the blonde in his hair began to turn white, the loss of color spreading from his roots out to his tips. His tunic was beginning to lose color too, turning gray.

Then something went wrong.

The dark magic had only begun to snake down the Skull Kid's hand for a moment before the imp screamed out in pain. And that pain Link felt too, in addition to his own. The magic was burning the Skull Kid's hand, unexpectedly, and his arm trembled terribly in reaction to what was happening. Then, Link felt three consciousnesses. His own, the imp's, and _the mask's_.

Whatever had happened had awakened its state of mind too, and suddenly the world was chaos. The mask was shocked, surprised, angry, and hurt. Somehow, the magic in Link's scar had been tampered with. The boy had done something to it, and it could not be returned to its master.

_**This magic is no longer my own.**_

The Skull Kid released Link, letting go of his chest.

Link returned to his own head, stumbling backward onto the sand. The color in his hair and tunic returned, and his eyes were blue again. The imp fell backward just across from him, panting and near fainting. The purple goop that had been extracted from Link's chest fell to the sand in between them.

Link began getting to his feet first, breathing in and out heavily. His mind was still swimming as his thoughts came back to him, looking up to the Skull Kid still laying there, with the dark magic that had burnt him in between. _Now is my chance._

Link walked to his sword lying just beside the goop. He would pick it up and slay the imp before he could return to his feet.

The ground shook. Link heard running water.

_No_.

He spun around. The wood had been burnt away, and the rocks had not been able to hold back the water forever. Small streams had poked out from in between, but that was the moment an explosion of water sent wood and rocks raining down. The wave of water was massive, crashing down into the trench and flowing forcefully towards the fairy in her bottle. She stared at it with wide frightened eyes, but could do nothing to move.

"_TATL!_"

Link sprinted. All pain was forgotten as he returned his sword to his scabbard and threw his bag behind him off his shoulder, blind and in full panic as he ran for Tatl. The water was rushing towards her, but he wasn't sure he was running fast enough. It was torrential, almost as aggressive as the ocean as it swished and foamed madly to refill the dry seabed to reconnect with the ocean, the heavy waterfall now in place of the dam.

The Skull Kid, who was finally returning to his senses, watched Link running for Tatl, and the water he knew was rushing to claim his friend. His eyes then went to the purple goop. It was _his_ magic. It should have come back to him. It should not have burnt him. The boy had used it to shoot lightning at him, so he had needed to take it back. But for some reason, he couldn't.

The imp ripped off his part of his right sleeve, flying up to the dark magic and wrapping it around the substance, so his fingers wouldn't touch it. The Skull Kid then flew away, carrying it off with him.

There was a continuous earthquake as Link ran, but he kept his footing. His eyes looked away from the bottle to the monstrous stream of water. There were over a dozen boulders in it, all forcefully being swept down the trench to fall upon everything in its path.

Link jumped into the trench of dirt and sand and ran for the bottle only steps away from him. He felt the foam of the approaching river on his face. Tatl's eyes were shining with fear as she looked up at Link.

But it was too late.

Link was swept off his feet as soon as the water hit him and his fairy. He spun around madly, foam and water everywhere. He couldn't see the bottle, but saw a massive rock narrowly miss him. He bounced down into the riverbed as the water tossed him, landing forcefully on his right shoulder. An explosion of even more pain followed. He continued to be tossed around like a rag doll, helpless to challenge the will of the river that had been released.

The spinning stopped when the trench ended. He was pushed back into the raging ocean, his spinning slowing as the force of the stream began to cease. He quickly tried to straighten himself, his right shoulder hurting now as he steadied himself in the water to look back at the riverbed he'd been shot out of.

The boulders had collected right at the mouth of the trench, all of it underwater. There were at least twenty of them, going from the bed of the ocean all the way up to the mouth the water had just rushed out on. It turned out the ocean floor was several feet below that of the shore, allowing the rocks to collect and pile on one another the entire vertical length. A trail of blood went from the boulders out to Link, and it went down to the injury on his stomach, ending there.

He quickly swam to the surface, each stride of his right arm more painful than the last. He gulped in air as soon as the sky was in his view.

The ground was still shaking. This earthquake wasn't ending.

He looked at the clock tower, barely visible from above the rock walls of Great Bay. The moon appeared to be on top of it, and the tower was tilted terribly in one direction, beginning to fall over. A ball of fire had begun to appear around the giant rock in its entirety.

Link's mind was blind in panic as he looked around himself at the roaring waves of the ocean. Back on the shore, the once empty trench was now a river, the waterfall where the dam had been now falling lightly.

"_TATL!_" Link screamed. It was hard to hear even himself from over the sound of the ocean, earthquake, and approaching moon. His shoulder and stomach hurt terribly as he treaded water. "_TATL!_"

Then his mind went to the piles of rocks that collected underwater against the shore's wall.

_No..._

He took a massive gulp of air, diving under the water and swimming towards the boulders. He began searching them hectically, trying to find the bottle, her body, a piece of glass... anything to confirm whether or not she had survived. But there was no trace.

The collection of boulders ran several feet up until it hit the surface of the water, and Link swam up and down them trying to find a sign of her. There were gaps in the boulders here and there, and he tried tugging on a few, but then he began to run out of air.

Link swam to the surface and took in another gulp of air, a wave splashing him in the face and causing him to spit out water. The salt stung his wounds. The world was still shaking madly; he didn't want to think about how much time was left. The ball of fire surrounding the moon soon obscured the rock with a face from view.

Link dove back under the water, searching the boulders up and down.

And then he saw a bright white light.

Link's mind jumped with excitement, and he swam back to see what it was.

The boulders had formed a small opening, too small for Link to fit through. Looking through it, however, the large, dark rocks had made a little cave, and within sat Tatl. She was in her bottle, the bottom of which was wedged tightly between two rocks. She slammed her body into the glass, trying to break it... but she appeared unable to.

She was trapped, in this newly formed underwater cave, the glass of her bottle still intact and keeping the water out. Link remained floating there for a moment, before he began to try to squeeze himself through. But he couldn't fit.

_No. No. No._

Tatl then noticed him. There were merely feet separating them, and they could see one another. But the boulders, bottle, and water stopped them from being reunited. Link tugged and pulled at the boulders making the entrance to the tiny cave, to try and widen it, but the rocks were heavy, tightly wedged, and his shoulder hurt too much.

A cloud of red began to float in front of his face, too, as blood flowed up from his stomach. He ran out of breath, and didn't even stop to catch his strength as he swam up to the surface. He took in another gulp of air, not even looking at the massive ball of fire that was less than five minutes away from making contact with the ground. It was now halfway down the length of where the clock tower had once stood.

Link was once again at the mouth of the cave, pulling at the rocks with all his might. He put every ounce of his strength into his hands that he had left, but it wasn't enough. His shoulder felt as if it were filled with hundreds of needles, all piercing deep within the muscle and bone. _Please... please... _

In his madness to save the fairy, though, he hadn't noticed something.

Tatl was flying around madly in the bottle, but he realized for the first time that she wasn't trying to get out. She was trying to get his attention. The water and distance separating them prevented her voice form reaching him, but eventually Link realized what she was doing.

He stopped, slowly letting go of the boulders and floating just in front of the small cave, looking inside at this fairy.

Tatl began to calm once she saw that she had his attention, appearing to be breathing in and out heavily. The two looked at one another across the small distance, each staring into one another's eyes with a deep sadness. Link merely floated in place, as she levitated within her bottle. The angry ocean's crashes were audible, and the ball of fire that surrounded the moon was muffled. The world shook still.

Link, staring at Tatl, realized why she had gotten his attention. _She's trying to say good-bye._ But they weren't able to hear one another. Was this long look into one another's eyes their last chance to communicate?

But that wasn't the case, for he saw Tatl beginning to do something. She took her finger and slowly began to drag it along the surface inside of the bottle. It had fogged there, and Link realized she was drawing something. Her finger curved to bring down one diagonal line, and then another one next to it. She then brought it around to bring a crescent moon through them, to complete the symbol.

Love.

She then turned away from it, to look deep into Link's eyes.

They stared at one another, and the boy didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave; he wanted to stay there forever, to never tear his eyes away from hers. Because he knew as he soon as he did, he would never be able to look into them again. Then they would be dead, and his last friend would be gone.

The crescent moon and the two lines: love. He felt his eyes watering as he hovered in place under the ocean.

_I love you too._

Their eyes stared into each other a moment longer, but then Link knew what she wanted him to do.

Turning away from her was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. His eyes found the waterline, and he swam towards it. His head broke the surface of the water, but he hardly made a noise as he gulped in air. Link solemnly swam back to the shore, his eyes beginning to water as he approached the sand.

The earthquake had not ended as he pulled himself onto the sand, collapsing just next to the newly formed river. The sand clung in clumps to his body and tunic as he climbed to pull his feet out of the water.

He was now sobbing, tears spilling out over his cheeks as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Link put his hands over his eyes as his body shook, whimpering alone on the shore as the moon shook Termina violently. The sky was aflame.

"_No... no... please... Tatl... _"

He drew his knees up to his chest, placing his arms over his knees, the pain in his stomach forgotten. His shoulders heaved as he cried.

"_I wish I could save you. I wish I could. But I can't. Tatl..._"

Link looked out at the ocean as the last of his tears fell. He sniffled once, twice, but he was staring blankly and without emotion ahead of him. Link slowly and stiffly got to his feet. He felt half-dead as he walked over to his bag and put it gently over his shoulders.

The boy went to stand at the shore, his cheeks tear-stained and his eyes red as he slowly pulled his ocarina from inside of the protective pocket on his belt. Link turned it over in his hand, staring at it forebodingly. The black mark was still burnt into it.

Had the mask salesman won? When he played the song, would he be a shadow, a servant to someone he had slain underneath the tower? His hand shook as he held the ocarina, but he knew what he had to do.

If he waited any longer, the shaking of the ground would knock him off of his feet. A rock wall near him crumbled, falling down into the sand, having been torn from the rest of the wall by the moon's force.

_I'm sorry._

Link trembled as he put the ocarina to his lips, closing his eyes. One more tear rolled out from behind his eyelids as he did. All he had to do was breathe life into it, and run his fingers across the holes. Then he could live, and find a way to stop Majora.

_No._

Link opened his eyes, looking up into the sky now as dark as if it were the middle of the night.

_No._

He put his ocarina back into his pocket, his face a confusing mixture of anger, grief, sadness, and determination.

_I won't._

He remembered how he had been lying near death on top of the clock tower, just after the Skull Kid had struck him with lightning. Tatl had come to be beside him, and Link had told her to fly away, above the moon so she could save herself. _No, Link; I can't do that... when are you going to get it through your head that I'm not leaving you?_

_I won't leave you either,_ Link thought.

The boy ran towards the shore, jumping back into the water as the moon continued its plunge. It had torn Clock Town's city walls down into the plaza long ago, and was now only feet away from hitting the very center.

Link swam down towards the boulders, quickly, his bag floating behind him as he propelled himself forward through the water. The boy approached the small cave, finding Tatl lying sadly at the bottom of her bottle. The symbol was beginning to fade. She looked up when she saw him out of the corner of her eye; he was tugging furiously at the boulders again.

Her wings sprung out erectly, flying into the bottle madly to try and get his attention. Link did not heed her, ignoring her as he pulled as hard as he could. He hardly felt the pain in his shoulder anymore, and ignored the small amounts of blood that floated past him as it came out of his stomach. Tatl slammed into the walls of her bottle furiously, trying to get his attention to tell him to leave, to tell him that it was too late, to tell him to save himself.

Link wouldn't listen.

He stubbornly tried to ignore his lungs as he began to run out of oxygen, the rocks no closer to being dislodged, hardly stirring at the ferocious earthquake. Eventually, the urge was too great, and Link swam back to the surface. Tatl calmed when she saw he had left.

When Link took in a breath, he could taste the fire. The world was hot, and there was only blinding light where the moon and Clock Town had been. He frantically took another breath and dove down into the water. The world was shaking so crazily that his head began to ache and he felt nauseous.

Link returned to the small cave, to once again tug at the boulders separating him from Tatl. It was futile; they would not budge.

"_LINK! GO! LINK!_" But he couldn't hear her, and she cried now when she realized it was no use, her face sliding down against the surface of the bottle when she knew all was lost.

Link gave one final tug, and then he heard the most deafening boom he had ever heard in his life. It was resonating, finite, and powerful. It sickeningly echoed all across the land, one last sound before the world turned to fire. It was the clock striking zero, the last grain of sand filtering through to the other side of the hourglass. It meant that time was up.

Link's mind was blank with panic as he slowly let go over the boulder, staring at Tatl in the silence that followed. It only lasted an instant. The next second, there was a louder noise, and the shaking was wilder than before. The water did nothing to muffle it; it sounded like a terrifying machine was bellowing right towards him, roaring deafeningly and with unbelievable force. There was a flash of light and heat, an explosion whose magnitude he had never been known before.

The boulders leapt forward at Link, and suddenly he was pushed backward. He was spinning, and his vision was chaos. He felt the water around him boiling, the light blinding as he flew through the air.

Then he knew no more.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

irish dude: Yes, he does appear to have committed quite a number of evil deeds! And I'm glad I was able to make him come across as frightening, as sadistic as that might sound, haha.

SCAG: Illusion is a strong word- although it is still all rather ambiguous right now. The nature of Termina will be an ongoing theme throughout the story.

EX-MARK: He appears to have been the puppeteer the entire time. And we'll see!

Pokemaniac Themy: Haha, no! I'm honored to have readers that lose track of time while reading it.

MajoraFan423: I do recall you guessing the truth behind the "figure with the face of a ReDead" before Chapter 35. Haha, all right; hopefully it dawns on me sooner or later. But thank you very much!

Triangle513: Thank you! I think one or two people did, but I'm glad the plot twist has received a warm reception!

Quill: Haha, I appreciate the pun. And that is a very good point to bring up! Not all secrets, unfortunately, were revealed while underneath the clock tower. Though I suppose that point is more of a technicality type thing than a secret- but nonetheless, there's much more information to come. And thank you! The ultimate utilitarian is a very good way of describing the "figure with the face of a ReDead"'s sense of morality.

mentally insane: Haha, I'd never heard that before, but I'm glad you mentioned it so I could look it up. I always thought this scene had more of an eerie, horrifying vibe than a melancholy one, but either way- music can add to the intensity of it.


	37. Realm of Shadows, Part 3

Note: I have good news and bad news: the good, would be me being able to post this chapter, and therefore _finally_ completing the Snowhead arc. I can't stress to you how much thought has gone into these three chapters, and I'm glad the first two have been warmly received. The bad news- summer is ending, and that means I'll only have a one hundredth of the free time I do now. While I did neglect finding the time to write last fall, I will try my best to not make that the case this time. I definitely won't post next Friday even if I do finish the next chapter (which I've already started), just to ensure I don't stop writing for an extended period of time at an awkward spot again. This, I feel like, is a much better place (narratively speaking) to have a hiatus, and so I'm going to wait until I have a decent amount of written material before updating regularly again. But a hiatus is still not a certainty. We'll see how much spare time I end up having.

Nevertheless, here is the conclusion of the conclusion of "part 3". I present to you the fates of the beloved point-of-view characters we've had this arc.

* * *

_Chapter 37: Realm of Shadows, Part 3_

The grass was warm.

He walked underneath the bright blue sky with wide eyes. Far across the lush field of green, which extended in all directions, was a single tree. He thought he saw children with masks dancing underneath.

Link cautiously took a step forward, hardly able to take in the beauty around him. There was nothing here but sky, sun, grass, and the tree. It was peace; it was release. Suffering was now a distant memory. He thought he felt Zelda's hand in his, but he wasn't sure.

"Don't go."

"I don't want to."

He felt her lips on his, with the fountain flowing water gently in the background.

"You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you?"

"I'm not stopping until that mask is in pieces. Majora is going to die, even if... even if I have to go down with it."

The sun was bright, above the etherial land he had found himself. He rose his hand to shield himself from its bright rays.

* * *

When Link opened his eyes, he saw only darkness.

At first, he thought he was dead, but then he felt the sharp pain in his stomach. The wound was still there, and a dull throbbing began in his shoulder. The boy was lying flat with his back against a hard surface; everything around him was pitch black.

He turned his head but realized there was hardly room to do that. Raising his uninjured arm, he discovered a rock ceiling just above him. He pushed on it, but though it budged slightly, he was not strong enough to move it out of the way. It felt weak somehow, but he was weaker still.

With growing panic, he discovered that he was trapped in a tiny, rock tomb. It was almost the exact length of his body, so there was no room to move. He was all alone in the darkness, with no way of getting out.

"_Help..._," Link said, his voice weak. He tried pushing on the roof with both of his hands, but he wasn't anymore successful. When he realized he was beginning to panic, he stopped himself. The second he did that, he _would_ die down here. Link began to think about his options, and the pain the scabbard caused against his back gave him an idea.

He slid his arms behind him towards his back, but his elbows hit the walls before he could reach his sword. Link grunted, trying to find a way to slither his arms there in the limited space available. He hunched himself upward, his hands finding it but unable to reach the handle. Even if he could, Link knew there would be no room for him to draw it.

Link instead resorted to unfastening it from his back, doing so with the help of his other hand. Without being able to look, he groped blindly; his fingers fumbled and were clumsy in the awkward positions he was forced to be in, but the work was slowly accomplished. As the boy began to untie his scabbard, his eyes found the straps of his bag. They went up underneath a boulder, where his bag had been crushed.

_No._ Certainly, all of his bottles were now in ruins, but what if the masks had been crushed too? The Deku and Goron masks were rather helpful, but losing Odolwa's and Goht's remains meant that all of his hard work would be lost.

When the scabbard was off, he began to work its way to his right, squeezing his body as far left as he could until he slid the sheathed sword on top of him. With it now in his hands, Link began to jab at the rock roof above him. The angle was awkward, and it took him several tries, but eventually he heard a crack.

Link's excitement began to grow as he stabbed at the roof repeatedly, each blow doing more damage than the last. Eventually, light poured in, and then rocks followed suit. They fell only a short distance and were not strong, so Link suffered no injuries when they fell upon him. The tomb had been cracked, and Link began pushing bits of rock and dirt off of him as he struggled to his feet. Something pulled him back down to the ground before he could stand, Link realizing it was the bag around his neck; it was still trapped under a boulder beside him.

He slid the shoulder strap off of him to straighten himself, Link taking in what was around him.

Behind him, the ocean appeared to have receded quite a bit, the land around him scorched black. The shore was several feet above his head, as the water once filling this area had been vaporized and left behind a gorge. The wall the shore now made had been demolished as well, ravines and holes blown into it. He was unable to see the rest of Termina from his position- only the ocean and the cliff the shore had now become.

The sky was black. Though it was not a nighttime sky that reigned above him. Terrifying, dark clouds rolled eerily about, swirling in a madness that promised the coming of a horrendous storm. The air was filled with dirt and soot, the blue of the sky and the light of the sun blotted out completely by a massive cloud of debris, as well as the storm that had come. Not a single ray of sunlight peered through, darkening the world below it.

Link's entire body was near giving up. His tunic and legs were blood stained and his right arm throbbed terribly. His head was light and aching, and his muscles were swore. The boy looked at the crumbled wall towering before him, knowing that he could walk and climb its shattered, sloping surface easily. The boulders that had once piled against the wall had been blown off when it had been destroyed. They had been blasted into the ocean floor, the intense heat caking them into the ground; Link had been trapped underneath them when it had happened. There must have been enough layers of rock and water to protect him from the fire while encasing him safely.

_Tatl_...

Link's eyes scanned the charred boulders covering what had once been the ocean floor. He found the break in them he had made, but no other ones. He saw no orb of white light, or shards of glass...

"Tatl," Link said, weakly. His voice echoed. There was not a single other sound to hinder its travel. The ocean sat silently, the waves no longer crashing on the new shore. No animals stirred, and the wind was silent. "_Tatl!_" Link went to his knees, beginning to claw at the black rock hoping to find a spot where it was loose. The tears did not come as he began his search in vain, even though he knew they would if his body had been capable of producing them.

"_Tatl..._"

Nothing answered him. The land around him held its breath, as if in mourning with him.

"_Link!_"

The boy's heart stopped. He began searching for the voice's source; it had come from underneath the rock somewhere, muffled.

"_Link!_"

Clearer than the first time, but it was still muffled. "Tatl?" Link said, his voice brimming with hope. He crawled across the rock, trying to get directly over the spot where the voice was coming from. Then he found it.

"_Link!_"

"Tatl, it's me!" Link grabbed his scabbard, beginning to fling it into the rock over the spot where he heard the voice. "Tatl, I'm coming, I'm here. I didn't leave you. I'm still here." He slashed at it repeatedly until it began to crumble, light spilling into the darkness to reveal a bright light covered in dirt. "_Tatl!_" The fairy couldn't respond, blinking out the dirt and keeping her mouth closed as the roof to the small cave was destroyed. She flew out from underneath the top of the bottle, shaking her wings of dirt and rock as she began to rise into the air.

Link's eyes were wide, stumbling backward as she came out of the ground.

Tatl then turned, and their eyes met.

The boy's dark blue eyes shone brightly as they looked into his fairy's. She, in turn, flew into his shoulder, her small fingers clutching him tightly as she rested her head against him. Tatl was shaking, crying as she hugged him, Link bringing down both hands over her gently, still on his knees before the hole he had released her from.

"_Link..._," the fairy said softly, bearing her head into his shoulder with her eyes squeezed shut.

He didn't say anything, merely holding her in place. They remained there, in one another's arms. Nothing else stirred in the hushed aftermath of the moon's destruction.

* * *

When they made the short climb to be level with the rest of Termina, they merely stood together, staring blankly at what was left. Their tear stained, distant expressions swallowed the sight before them with grief.

Darkness.

The sky was a sea of black clouds, grumbling darkly, lightning flashing, bolts cutting across threateningly, the sky completely blotted out. The ground was one flat, level field of ash, stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction, except in the direction of Snowhead. The mountains were large, black, charred hills, their peaks dulled and tall enough to be visible from this far away.

And that was all there was. Debris lay scattered in the ash, any walls and barriers that had once been there now black, charred, and leveled, along with the rest of the land. It was a flat plain of desolation, the civilization that had once been here completely wiped out, these remnants all that remained. It was darkness; it was death. The plain went into the distance as far as the eye could see, it blurred with the darkness of the sky, it impossible to draw a line to separate the two and find a horizon. The sky continued grumbling above them, an endless storm, as if all that needed to be said on what lay before them.

In the distance, where Clock Town had once been, was the moon. Its face was buried deep into the ground, the land immediately surrounding it crowning around it. Only its rock back could be seen poking out, a monument to the destruction and as massive as it always had been.

The most terrifying thing of all was the silence. Nothing moved. There was not a single plant or animal that remained breathing with life. There was no wind to blow against their face, no sun to warm their skin, no colors to decorate the wildlife with, no bugs buzzing, no waves crashing... there was only silence, which was the sound of death.

This was exactly what Link had found on the other side of Snowhead. Now he knew the field of ash had been completed, and that that was all that was left of Termina. The only difference was the moon in the very center, the crown atop Majora's wrath to complete the havoc wrecked on this land for generations. Its years of slaying, destroying, and corrupting had finally been completed.

However, his ocarina's survival insured it could be reversed. It remained safely on his belt. What was left of his bag was slung over his shoulder. It was tattered and torn, the glass bottles within having shattered. His bow had been destroyed when he'd left it on the beach, and the magic beans, quiver, and arrows were ruined as well. Only his ice axes, matches, masks, rupees, and the Lens of Truth had survived, not counting his sword and shield.

Link and Tatl stood together as they took in the aftermath of Majora's Mask. The dark sky swirled above them, Tatl's bright ball of light contrasting starkly with everything that was left. The dawn of the new day was darker than any night had ever been.

"This is... exactly what I saw." The fairy's voice was deep with sadness. Her home was gone, and they both knew now that Termina had been reduced to this every time they played the Song of Time.

Link knew what she meant without asking. "Me too. After he took you, I went through the cave to find you."

Silence. Tatl remained floating in place, her eyes distant and blank. "Then he's right. We're all just darkness. Not you, but all of _us_. I already knew it before he told me, but hearing him say it... I'm just a shadow."

"No," Link said, turning to face her. "You're not." His felt his voice beginning to shake as he kept going. The fairy noticed how pale he was, the injury on his stomach dark and twisted. "I love you, Tatl. The thought of leaving you behind, that entire cycle... it killed me. It took every ounce of strength I had not to go mad thinking about the fact that I would never see you again, that I would lose you too. And once I learned that the mask salesman had taken you...

"Tatl, he's the one who killed Zelda. He killed Navi, too. Somehow he was responsible for Anju dying, and I'm pretty sure he killed Tael. I wasn't going to let him kill you, too."

The boy and fairy looked at one another, Tatl thinking before she spoke again. "He knew Navi."

"What?" Link asked, not entirely sure he'd heard her correctly.

"He tried to lie to me when it accidentally came up. But he knew her, somehow. It wasn't something he wanted to talk about, though."

"It didn't stop him from snapping her neck," Link replied bitterly, after a moment to process what she'd said. He refused to feel any remorse for the man responsible for all of the death he'd faced in his life, and had to stop himself from getting mad at his fairy for seeming to have some herself. "The memory of you, Tael, and the Skull Kid robbing my horse is fake. The mask salesman is the one who kidnapped me and brought me here, but Navi tried to stop him and... Somehow, he tampered with our minds, and that's... that's probably why I forgot as much as I did."

"I know," Tatl said simply. "... He told you everything?"

"Yes. About the flood, and what Termina really is. But he's not right about everything. Maybe this is where the witches sent the mask, but maybe they didn't truly know what this place was either."

"Link, look around you!" Tatl suddenly exclaimed. "Look at everything! It's darkness, it's death, it's nothing. It's proof that everything he said, everything the cave said, it's all true..."

"No, it's not. Termina isn't just a realm of shadows."

"How can you say that?! What else could it be?"

"I don't know..."

"Then open your eyes and look around! I'm nothing, Tael was nothing, and this whole land was nothing!"

"_No!_" Link suddenly yelled. The fairy was taken back, flying down slightly when she saw the emotion in his eyes, despite his physical weakness. "I _am_ looking around, Tatl; we both saw what was on the other side of those mountains before this, and we both know that Majora destroyed that land too. But that's proof that there's something here to save. I don't know what it is, but this- _this_ is darkness. What comes before the moon crashes is worth saving, though. Because somehow, it's able to hold Majora back here.

"There's something about this place that the mask salesman doesn't want to acknowledge. And I think it's that something the Skull Kid is trying to destroy. If this land really was just darkness, then it wouldn't matter what the moon did to it. But it does. If it falls, the mask escapes. If it falls, people die. If it falls, then it really does become a realm of shadows."

Tatl merely looked at Link, trying to process it as the fire in his eyes began to die down. "In all my life, I'm not sure I've ever met anyone as stubborn as you. Even after all of this, you still have hope, even in the face of this..." Tatl went to gesture towards Termina's destruction. "But without your thick-headedness... I think it's safe to say we'd all be screwed."

Link, at first taken back, saw that Tatl was smiling. Though her face was still stricken with grief and horror, the smile was a sign that there was still some hope left in there, that the boy had managed to kindle. Link smiled back. "I almost forgot what sarcasm was, without you to constantly remind me."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm back to set you straight again."

"I made a bubble brain joke to myself the other day. It was pretty sad. Especially since being distracted by it almost got me trampled to death." When he stopped talking, he and Tatl were still staring at one another, smiling. He felt a warmth deep down, one that he hadn't felt since the last time they had been in one another's company.

_I saved her. For once, I wasn't too late._

He saw her look away though, her smile faltering when she looked at the wasteland that had once been her home. "Come on, fairy boy. I think we'd better leave this place."

Link nodded his head in approval. He pulled out his ocarina and looked at it, but this time it felt like the right thing to do. He was finally able to leave this cycle behind, and he left it now with more knowledge than he ever had before. Now, the stakes had been made clear: all that stood between Majora and its domination of the universe was him. He had to make sure it didn't escape the realm the witches had placed it in.

Yet, he refused to believe that Termina was innately a land of darkness. The witches had to have overlooked something, and so had the mask salesman. The love between he and Tatl was very real, and it was that beacon of hope that was proof enough to him that there was something here worth saving.

Tatl rested on his shoulder, and Link played the Song of Time.

* * *

The Skull Kid's feet touched the wasteland. He landed lightly, his weight coming to settle down on the pile of ashes that had once been grass. The moon was just beside him, its face hidden from view. The land stretched outward in all directions, only the ruins making it possible to distinguishing ground from sky.

The pure darkness from Link's scar was still wrapped around his sleeve, balled up in his fist. The imp scanned what was left in Termina, a deep sadness filling him. He was speechless. He stood there in silence for quite a while, the complete and total lack of sound, aside from the occasional burst of thunder, almost made him cry. It was as if an entire world had died. There was nothing to be said; the words to express the deep sadness he felt did not exist.

"There's... nothing..."

_**No. The boy lives.**_

The Skull Kid's mind went back to the boy in the green tunic. He remembered the dark purple eyes staring back at him as he shot back his lightning, and he remembered the same eyes looking at him as the magic now in his hand had burned him.

But his fear for the power the boy now possessed dissolved into hope. Some part of him was happy that the boy had lived, and that darkness was not the only thing now left in the world. It combated the sense of desolation currently enveloping him.

_**Have you forgotten your place?**_ The mask had been reading his thoughts, as it always did. _**This is what we want. This is what we bathe in. The darkness strengthens us; the ash running through your fingers possesses power that cannot be found anywhere else.**_ The Skull Kid didn't even remember putting his free hand down into the darkness, but he had, nonetheless. He watched the ash run through his fingers, and it did make him feel stronger.

_**Life is an impure thing. It is a flaw in what otherwise would be a perfect universe. We must extinguish it. We must cleanse the world of its impurity.**_ The Skull Kid then remembered. He was glad he had the mask to remind him. Oftentimes, he seemed to forget how awful living things were, but Majora always reminded him.

Majora was always there to make sure he didn't become stupid again. He would be lost and confused without it. He hated how weak he could be sometimes. The darkness was his home; his friend. He returned to it when he was weak through the cave, but now it was all around him. Now he could drink its sorrow and feel the ashes and wash his impurities away no matter where he was.

_**No. We are not done yet, because not all have perished. You have failed me. The boy will play his ocarina, and all will revert to as it was.**_

_I'm sorry_, the Skull Kid thought, almost shivering at the horrific nature of the voice. He hadn't meant to. The mask had told him to obey the dark sorcerer, so he hadn't killed Tatl.

_**The fool and his magic are no longer players in this game. The boy ended his role prematurely. But perhaps that is for the best. His arrogance blinded him, and made him dangerous. But I was never his puppet. He was mine.**_

The Skull Kid wondered what had happened to the dark sorcerer. Had he died? He had never known who he was, but the mask had reassured him everything would be okay, that eventually he would reveal to him everything, that answers would come in good time...

_**I owe you no answers. I owe you nothing. I am the deity of this land, and you are a failure. You failed to kill the boy. Again.**_

The Skull Kid licked his lips nervously, his tongue also tasting the wood of Majora. He stood shaking now, as he stared out at the wasteland, all by himself. He'd _tried_ to slay the boy, but then something else unexpected had happened. Somehow he had used Majora's magic against them, and now they couldn't even take it back without it burning them.

_**The boy has tainted my magic with magic of his own. He has made it impure and turned it **__**against us. This is something that neither I nor the dark sorcerer foresaw, but it is of no consequence. We have stolen some of his tainted magic.**_

The Skull Kid opened his hand with the torn sleeve, to look at the glowing purple glob within. True, they now possessed some of it... but what were they to do with it?  
_**You happened to remove a very special collection of dark magic from within him. It will serve us diligently.**_

The clump of dark magic suddenly leapt of the Skull Kid's hand, landing in the ash. The imp was frightened at first, going to pick it up again, but the mask stopped him.

_**Before the boy slayed the jungle warrior who borrowed my magic, he took inside of him a piece of my magic from another source- other than from the lightning bolt you foolishly imbedded him with.**_

The purple clump began to grow in size, expanding and squirming disgustingly as it rose and took a human-like shape.

_**It was a dark incarnation of the boy himself. And when he absorbed it, he corrupted it as well, and harbored it within him, until you released it. So now it is made of the impure magic he continues to use against us, making it immune.**_

The shape began to darken, until it was as black as the land around it. A hat adorned its head, pointed at the end, a sword and shield clad on its back, a tunic as purely black as the skin underneath. Its eyes opened, and they were bright red.

_**So now we turn his own weapon against him.**_

The dark figure was slightly taller than the imp once it was finished transforming, but it went to one knee, lowering its head.

"_**My master. I am here to serve.**_"

The Skull Kid slowly smiled from behind the mask, at the dark servant he had just gained. All thoughts of hope and life were now distant, as if they had never existed. His mind was as dark and featureless as the dawn of the new day.

"And you will serve me well. You will find the boy, and kill him. You will make sure to kill his fairy too, and smash his ocarina to bits."

"_**Yes, master.**_" Dark Link rose to his feet, his red eyes meeting the orange orbs of the mask. "_**It will be as you command.**_"

The Skull Kid's smile was wicked. He reached out to grab the shadow's shoulder, knowing they must make physical contact for the Song of Time to bring him back, too.

Moments after the boy and his fairy, they vanished, leaving the desolate wasteland behind.

* * *

For the longest time, he could only float in place, his mouth slightly agape.

The fire was still alive in his eyes, as if it had burnt into them forever. It had been an ocean of destruction, the orange, red, and yellow waves thicker and fuller than any body of water as they rolled about all of Termina. He had watched as the walls of Clock Town had simply been obliterated. The wall of chaos had spread swiftly, a red hand swiping the board clean of anything and everything. The way it ate the trees... the way it consumed the grass... the way it became _everything_...

It had rolled over the mountains, crossing over the peaks and cutting down sharply into the valleys on the other sides. It had battled the waters of Great Bay, pushing the waterline backward as steam had curled into the air like thick, spidery legs. It had been the absolute manifestation of horror.

Tael had felt the heat from far above, and had cried silently as his home was destroyed. He couldn't get the fire out of his head. For a moment, he had thought it would never go away. He had feared that the world below him would become a great abyss of crackling flames and red death, but it had eventually faded. What had been left in its place, however, was no better.

The purple fairy slowly flew down to the ground. He approached the ash pile slowly, afraid of the absolute, deathly silence that hung in the air. Death went in all directions. The world was simply black. He was almost gratefully for the lightning and thunder. When there was a flash of light, it made it easier to tell where the sky and land met in a line on the horizon, and when thunder grumbled, it gave his ears something to listen to.

He reached out, but stopped himself before he touched it. He remembered when he and Link had journeyed through the cave, and realized that this was the same exact thing. The boy had reached out for the ash, too, but had stopped himself just before he touched it. The fairy decided he would do the same.

Thinking of the boy made him sad, because now he had to be dead. Tael didn't think it was possible to survive the torrential hurricane of fire the moon had created, especially from underneath the clock tower, where Link had been. He had grown to like the boy, but that couldn't change the fact that he was dead now.

"Tatl?" His voice was a whimper, he realized, and it spread across the black wasteland as the fire just had.

What was he supposed to do now? The dark sorcerer had told him that all he had to do was survive the moon, and then his sister would be waiting for him. … _if your sister is intelligent enough to fly above the explosion, you will find her._

_If_. Suddenly, Tael felt nauseous. What if she had done something stupid, and had gotten herself killed? What if she had tried to sacrifice herself for the boy, rather than leave him behind? What if the dark sorcerer had lied to him, and he had killed Tatl anyways?

"No..." His voice was just as hallow and weak as it had been the first time. He realized he was crying again. He hadn't even noticed. The ghost of the fire he had seen was everywhere, and it distracted him.

_The way it spread... and grew... and swallowed everything... how it was everywhere..._

"Tatl..."

Would things have ended differently if he had chosen to rejoin Link? Had that moment been the gods giving him one last chance? Maybe they had intended for him to fly over to Link, so he could warn him about the trap. Then maybe they could have saved his sister, and they all could have lived.

_But now they're both dead._

No. He didn't know that. The boy was probably dead, but his sister had to still be alive. She had to. She _had_ to. The dark sorcerer had promised him. Tael had left behind Link to save his sister. She had to be somewhere.

"Tatl!" His voice was somewhat stronger than it had been before, but not by much. He began to wonder where he was. The moon was a mile or so off, buried into the ground with it jutting up and around it, as if Clock Town had opened its mouth wide to receive the Skull Kid's destruction. But it was hard to tell where he was. Maybe somewhere in Termina Field... Everything looked the same.

Then he thought about the Skull Kid again. What had happened to him? Had he died too? In his own foolishness, had he not realized the moon would kill him too? The way the fire had spread... the red, orange, and yellow... the flames... no one could have survived... the moon had been brought down to kill everyone...

_What if everyone was dead?_

Suddenly, he realized what that meant. Across the mountains, there was a field of ashes, and he was pretty sure the same was true for every other direction. Now that Clock Town and the areas around it were ashes... did that mean that he was the only living thing left?

_No. No, no, no. No. No._

Tael began to shake. He flew, panicking. He raced as far away from the moon as he could, straight ahead. Hopefully he would run into something. Eventually, the black had to end. It looked like he was going into some dark cave without one, however; the sky and land were so blurred together. The field in front of him stretched on indefinitely.

"_Tatl!_" he yelled now, as loud as he could. His heart was hammering wildly in his chest as he flew, his eyes wide, sweat breaking out. It was still silence; everything was silent, and dead. "_Tatl!_"

_Red, orange, yellow... fire... flames... an ocean of death..._

He stopped after a couple of minutes. Nothing had changed. The only landmark was the moon, which had simply become farther away. He looked around and wondered if this was where the forest had been. It was impossible to tell. All of the trees were gone, and the ground was just ash.

Then, he saw something on the other side of the moon. _The mountains_. The explosion had not been strong enough to level them. And since they were in the north, and were on the other side of the moon, that meant he was in the south. Which meant he was right about having been in the forest. It calmed him a little bit, to know that this was where the forest had been. He wasn't completely lost.

_Death. The fire was everywhere. It was a crater, and in it, there was only death. Red, flaming death._

The mountains! Yes, he had to go there. Surely the gorons had survived. The peaks were so tall... the flames would have had to go _around_ the mountains to destroy everything there. He flew swiftly, beginning to panic again as he had before.

_I watched. The fire swam over the mountains, and came down on to the other side, gutting the valleys like they were dead fish._

No, no. No. No.

"_Tatl!_" Tael yelled. He flew, his wings going as fast as they could. He had to hurry, he had to find someone, or else he would go crazy. He couldn't panic. If he panicked, he would go crazy, and if he went crazy, it would be exactly what Majora wanted.

_Majora. Majora is the bad guy. It's not the Skull Kid. It's not the dark sorcerer. It's Majora. It's Majora._

"_Tatl! Link! Skull Kid! Tatl! Somebody_..."

He was crying again. _No, stop that_, Tael thought to himself.

He flew over the moon. He flew over the stretch of land on the other side, and found the gorge. It was black, and filled with ashes too now. But at least it was a change of land elevation. _Anything other than just this field of ash..._ After going through the cave, they had been able to go back through to the other side, back to Snowhead.

But now there was no where to go back to.

_The gorons. The gorons. The gorons survived._

Tael flew high over the mountains, following the pathway down below with his eyes. He was hurrying now. The thunder grumbled darkly. He took back what he said earlier about the thunder being a good thing. It scared him. But the silence was even scarier...

The Mountain Smithy was simply gone. As if it had never existed. Or maybe that wasn't where the Mountain Smithy had been. He wasn't sure...

He kept flying. These valleys had once been filled with snow, but it must have all been obliterated. The spring that had come had been set afire as well. Tael remembered watching the white light spread across the land, the snow disappearing with it. It had been nothing compared to the fire, though.

_The fire. The fire. It was so hot, and bright, and it was everywhere..._

It wasn't much longer until he thought he was at Goron Village. He thought... He wasn't sure... Because there were only charred humps where the buildings had been...

_No, no, no. This can't be it. This can't be where the buildings were. They had to have survived. They were safe in the mountains._

But every valley he found had been black and charred.

Tael flew down into the one where he was almost certain Goron Village should be, but for some reason was not.

_I have to be wrong... it has to be somewhere else..._

He was crying again. He had to stop that. He couldn't keep crying like this. Tatl would make fun of him if he did.

_My sister... I have to find her..._

"_Tatl!_" Tael screamed, his voice thick with fear. "_Tatl! Link!_" He stopped himself when he got close enough to the ground, because he saw something. It was a hand. It was sticking out of the plane of ashes. And if he looked hard enough, he could see the body too. It was round, and large. It had probably been a goron...

It was a goron. The mountains hadn't been tall enough to save them, but they had been tall enough to prevent their civilization from being completely obliterated. Everything had simply burnt, not exploded.

He looked up to see what he thought might have been the Goron Shrine. Maybe he had exaggerated when he had said things hadn't blown up...

Soot still fell from the sky here, and the smell of burning was fresh. Tael shakily turned away from the goron corpse he had found and looked around at the rest of the village. It was all desolation. There were bodies everywhere. Large and small. They were all black now. They had all been burnt now.

_No... no... no... no..._

_ The fire was so scary._

He was crying again. He had to stop that. His sister would... His sister...

"_Tatl!_"

_**The fire was darkness. The fire was death.**_

Those weren't his thoughts. He froze. Or were they his thoughts? They sounded terrifying, like a voice in his head...

_**There is nothing left. There is no one. You are alone. You are the only impurity.**_

"_Tatl!_" Tael suddenly yelled. "_Link! Skull Kid! Gorbus! ReDead guy! Anybody! Help!_"

_**They can't hear you. They can't hear you because they're gone.**_

The voice... it was coming from inside of his head. _Oh Din, my head. It's in my head._ He had been thinking about the fire, and the voice had started chiming in. Had his own depressing thoughts brought it in? _It's my fault, it's my fault, it's my fault, it's here. If only I had stayed calm..._

_**I am the darkness. And you will become the darkness too. Join us. Help us cleanse the light within. The fire is brighter.**_

He was frantic now. He had to make it stop... he had to make it stop...

_Don't go crazy... don't go crazy... hold it together..._

_**The fire was death, the darkness is death. The land around you is death.**_

He was flying so fast, in every direction, but he wasn't sure where to go. He came to the edge overlooking Lone Peak Shrine. There was a goron lying dead right at the cliff. The fairy had just noticed it. Its eyes were staring blankly ahead, the ghost of a smile on his face. He was all alone up here. Why had he died all alone? … Did the fingers move? Were the fingers twitching? Oh Din, had the fingers just moved?

_**The darkness will consume you. Join us. Jump into the fire.**_

No, no, no...

_**You cannot escape it. You cannot rise above it.**_

"_TATL!_"

_**You can only join it.**_

"_HELP!_" He was sobbing openly now, trying to turn but seeing no where to go. There were corpses everywhere... everywhere he flew... were they walking?... were they coming towards him?... was it just his imagination?... was the voice real?...

_**Death is the only reality. Life is as fragile as it is impure.**_

"_NO! MAKE IT STOP!_"

But it didn't. The dark, terrifying voice in his head kept talking, and the dead bodies around him continued to dance... _Dance. They were dancing. They were dancing in the fire._

He flew down into the pile of ash, shaking now as he cried, trembling terribly as he almost choked on the small black specks that remained.

_**Swallow it. Revel in it. Become it. Join it. Dance in the flames.**_

"_NO!_"

_**Touch it. **_

"_STOP!_"

_**Revel in it.**_

"_STOP!_"

_**Become it.**_

"_TATL!_"

_**Join it.**_

"_HELP!_"

_**Dance in the flames.**_

Tael was rubbing his face into the ashes, crying miserably and audibly gasping in the madness. It was all spinning... The bodies were dancing... they were dancing...

He looked up from his tear stained face to see charred possessions that had spilled out of the hut he groveled in front of. They were blackened and burnt, strung out and scattered about, with bodies lying next to them. But one of the objects shone back at him...

_**Dance. Dance. Become one with the fire.**_

"_NO! STOP! PLEASE! I BEG YOU!_"

He crawled now, through the ashes. _**You cannot fight it.**_ He pushed the other objects away as he continued to sob, his hand wrapping around the handle of the knife. _**You cannot overcome it.**_ The blade glistened in a spot near the center. It was black, like everything else, otherwise. He tried to stare in that one silver spot... That one thing that wasn't black... That wasn't darkness... _**There is nowhere to escape.**_ But he saw his own reflection, his crazed eyes staring back at him wildly. He tore his eyes away from it, panting now, but still holding onto the small blade.

_**Dance. Dance in the fire.**_

"_No... stop... please... just stop..._" He was tired. Too tired to yell. He just wanted it to stop. He had to find his sister. The dark sorcerer promised. He lay in the ashes on his side, moving uncomfortably as he held the dagger firmly. He was a purple spot on a black canvas.

_**JOIN THE BODIES. DANCE. DANCE WITH THE BODIES. DANCE IN THE FIRE.**_

"_NO!_" The voice was yelling now. He had given up yelling, and the voice had responded by yelling. It wouldn't let him stop... it wouldn't let him give up... "_STOP! PLEASE!_"

His hand shook as he began to raise the knife.

_**JOIN THE SILENCE. BECOME ONE WITH THE FLAMES.**_

He was crying again. His fingers were sweaty as he brought the edge of the blade towards his neck.

_**DANCE. DANCE. JOIN US.**_

"_MAKE IT STOP!_"

He looked up into the sky, his eyes red and his voice shaking. "_Please... gods... help me... why won't you help me..._" His eyes were only pleading with the clouds, however, and they were doing nothing to end his misery.

The cold steel was sharp against his throat.

_**THE FIRE IS EVERYWHERE**_.

"_PLEASE! NO!_"

He began to press it down harder.

_**BECOME ONE WITH MAJORA.**_

"_I JUST WANT IT TO STOP! MAKE IT STOP!_"

It did.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Quill: Haha, thanks! Cliffhangers are a bad (or good, depending on how you look at it) habit of mine. Hope you enjoyed finding out what ending up happening to them!

Aqua324: Thanks! And to answer your question- all the time. I love writing, and it would be a dream career of mine to pursue. I have several original ideas (few of which I've finished), but hopefully, one day, I'll be able to share a meaningful story that people will enjoy, that I can completely call my own.

Santiago: Haha, thank you so much! Four movies- I have to say, that would be unbelievably epic. I really am flattered by your review. Your compliment basically is word for word what I've been trying to do here. To write something that has my own style in an engaging way to others, provide an explanation for things a game could not, and, at the same time, keep it a Zelda story. And haha, that would be an interesting thing to do with it as well. I'm glad you like it so much, and hope I can keep updating regularly. I also hope you enjoy the parts of the story to come just as much!

EX-MARK: This is one of the reasons I wish I could respond to anonymous reviews the way I can others... sometimes, my response to it becomes irrelevant after you read the next chapter, haha.

SCAG: Ah-ha, a very interesting point to bring up! We'll have to see!

Ootmmwwtpss (those are all great games, by the way, especially the second one you listed): Thank you! The main reason I set out to write this was to see how people felt about my style, and ability as an author. I appreciate the compliments, and am happy it's making you look at the game with a more inquisitive mind as to what really was going on. Hopefully your inquisitive mind is also skeptical as to what's going on in this story, because we still have quite a bit to learn about my particular interpretation!


	38. Ghosts and Phantoms

Note: Boo month long breaks! Time passes much quicker than it used to... Any who, after an eventful month, I present the beginning of our fourth story arc. Only one more full one after this, and then a sixth one to sum things up rather climatically. I don't actually have more written material like I said I would before I posted the next chapter, but since it's been almost thirty days and I've finally finished one... Hopefully I can keep up another weekly pace.

* * *

_Chapter 38: Ghosts and Phantoms_

"_Let me out! Let me go! Link!_" She continued slamming herself into the glass of the bottle, wrapped in the darkness of the cloak. She refused to give in.

She had heard Link scream her name. His voice had grown more distant, however, and now she could not hear it at all.

Had it injured him? Had it left him for dead?

This dark creature had come out of no where, forcing her to fly into the bottle, and now she was unable to see anything else. Even if it hadn't left Link with a fatal wound, the cold would claim him. He had already been growing weak, but all alone in the snow, he didn't stand a chance.

"_Let me out of this bottle right now, you undead freak!_"

She wasn't even sure if it could hear her. Her own heavy breathing had made her bottle very warm, her voice much louder to herself than it should be. Despite this, she relentlessly flung herself into the container. Maybe, if she kept at it, she would rip the pocket open. Then the bottle would fall out, hit a rock, and shatter. She could fly away, never look at its face again, find Link, and get him help.

"_You have no idea who you're dealing with! As soon as I get out of here, I'll-_"

Suddenly, the bottle was yanked out from within the dark garments. The gloved, black fingers pulled her into the snowy world. They were still somewhere in the valley, no landmarks anywhere in sight. The bottle was raised up towards the face hidden within the hood. She remembered to look away too late, and her body was under its control again.

"Stop. Now."

The voice definitely belonged to a man, and it was deep and commanding. The feeling of its grip on her legs, arms, and wings was enough intimidation on its own. The ReDead creature then stowed her away back into its robes, and Tatl regained movement.

She remained floating in place, her entire body sore. The grip, for some reason, left her feeling much weaker than she had been before. Something about it seemed to cause the very blood in her veins to no longer obey her will, the entire experience physically exhausting. Now resting fearfully at the bottom of the bottle, she realized the voice had sounded familiar.

Unable to see where they were going, and only hearing the crunching of its boots through the snow, she only knew they had reached somewhere else when the footsteps began to echo. The sound of the blizzard faded, and she knew they were in a cave. The ReDead figure paused for a moment, and then she heard the crackling of fire. Then they were walking again.

When it stopped next, it wasn't long before the glove found her bottle once more. She was pulled out and set down on a stone floor. Through the glass, she realized she had been right about their location. They were deep within some tunnel system, the fairy unable to see snow or sky anywhere. Tatl's eyes went up to see her kidnapper.

It was the face of a ReDead that looked down on her. The flesh was decayed and rotting, the eyes terrible dark pits. A hood was drawn far over its head, the black robe completely covering its skin. She didn't feel herself freezing as she had before, however; this creature appeared to be able to turn off its ability at will. It merely stared at her at first, but it was hard to tell whether it was considering speaking. The face was so still; no muscles appeared to react to convey an emotion.

Tatl swept the cave, but she couldn't find Link anywhere. The torch her captor had lit earlier was now hanging on the wall, illuminating the room. There was a decently sized rock in the middle of the floor, and a large backpack sat in one corner, with other possessions scattered near it. The cave continued in two different directions at this place's entrance, this small room appearing to be a break from the narrow tunnels.

She waited for a moment, for it to interact or harm her in some way. But it didn't. The dark being simply sat down on the rock, turning away from her as it began to rummage through its possessions. She was confused now.

"What are you doing? Who are you?" Her voice was muffled, the sound of her own breathing closer than it should have been. She wondered if it could even hear her. She thought it must have, since it had told her to stop talking while outside.

When it turned next, she saw it was holding a block of cheese and a knife. It began to cut free a thin slice, breaking off a piece from a loaf of bread as well. "Did you take me because you wanted someone to eat with? Do you kidnap all of your dinner guests?" It didn't responded. Or maybe it was a he; it had sounded like a normal man. Though quite a psychopathic one, from what she could tell so far. "Or do you just want someone to watch you eat? I guess that makes you more than one kind of weirdo, you undead freak."

"You and I both know I'm not undead," he responded. He, almost certainly. The voice was so familiar. A theory popped into her head, but she had to be wrong.

She wasn't. Its hands went to its face, and removed it, to reveal another one underneath. _It was a mask_. Of course it was. She should have known that, but it had appeared so realistic... and the hood...

When the mask was removed and the hood drawn back, she saw red hair and slightly squinted eyes. He wasn't wearing the purple robes he had on the other occasions she'd seen him. She immediately relived the moment in which Majora's Mask had been stolen from him.

The rock had knocked him out, but the Skull Kid had stayed there too long after stealing the heart-shaped, wooden face. When the mask salesman had opened his eyes, the Skull Kid had easily flown away, and then the salesman had stared angrily at her and her brother, who hadn't been as quick. The anger had melted away into something else when he had seen her, but she'd been too afraid to stay behind and find out what it had meant.

"You?" Her fear began to calm, when she remembered this man had helped Link, and realized he wasn't a monster. "Where's Link?"

"With the goron who was walking towards him," the man answered, his red hair dark. His voice wasn't the cheery one that he had under the clock tower, or the angry one when he had been robbed. He appeared almost apathetic, his eyes downcast as he removed his gloves. They weren't as squinted as they usually were, and she saw that his eyes were dark. When the right glove was removed, she saw a bright silver ring on his hand, two gems that were brilliantly blue and red encrusted within it. They seemed to glow with life.

The confusion began to return.

"Why did you...?" she began to ask, not understanding his demeanor, as he solemnly took the first bite of the meal he had made. "... attack us?"

He paused before answering, swallowing first. He spoke matter-of-factly, almost. "I didn't think he would agree so easily to you dying."

She didn't need to ask him who 'he' was. "Are you hoping to starve me to death?"

The mask salesman looked up at her after she said that, but his expression didn't change. "No." He took another bite. "Are you hungry? Fairies don't need to eat as much as people, a fact I'm well aware of. Has the boy been starving you?"

"No," she said. "His name's Link."

"I'm aware of that, too."

"Why did you let him live? And why are you waiting to kill me?"

He stopped eating after she asked that question.

"I'm not going to kill you." He set the bread and cheese aside, drinking water from a bottle he hadn't used to kidnap a fairy. "I intend to let the moon do that."

She continued staring at him uncertainly, his eyes still not meeting hers as he leaned back against the cave wall. "You're not man enough to do it yourself?" The mask salesman seemed to take offense to that, suddenly looking at her angrily. "If you're going to slaughter the helpless little girl you kidnapped, at least have the courage to-"

"I could care less about your life," the mask salesman said, looking away again. "It's the boy that this needs to be done for."

Tatl was the one who got angry after that statement. "You're just doing this to hurt him?! You sadistic-"

"Say what you want about me, but what I'm doing is in the best interest of everyone else."

"I don't believe you. How would hurting Link and killing me help anyone?"

"I'm not killing you. I already told you. Link is going to kill you, when he leaves you behind by going into the next cycle."

"He wouldn't."

"Not if he can't find you."

"Well then Link's not killing me, is he? It's your fault because you hid me to well. He wouldn't be able to do anything about that."

The mask salesman didn't respond at first. "He promised he would never leave you behind. His choices, were he to act faithfully, would be to find you or die with you. Leaving you behind is an act of betrayal."

Tatl was the one who was caught off guard by that. "Link knows he can't die for me. He's the only one who can stop Majora."

Her unmasked captor sighed lightly at that. "Then he's still putting his love for you second. No matter how you justify it, he's still leaving you behind to save himself."

"And no matter how you justify it, you're still responsible for emotionally destroying a boy by killing his fairy."

The mask salesman, for once, was at a loss for words. When she caught his eyes next, she thought she saw something other than indifference in them.

"I would get some sleep, if I were you. We won't be staying here for long."

Tatl didn't respond, as she watched the man crawl over to his bag and rest his head against it. Her eyes were filled with hatred as she floated down to the bottom of the bottle.

_I can't believe I was ever afraid of him_, she thought. _He's just a sad, pathetic man. I hate him._

* * *

The clock tower doors creaked open.

As his hand was on them, pushing them, he realized how much history these doors must have been apart of. In just the short time he had been there, they had witnessed what had now become memories that would haunt him for the rest of his life. On one side, people he had loved had died. On the other, he had slain the man responsible for his losses. How many others had died before this door, or lost loved ones? Were there people who were still haunted by memories of their own, that had taken place before the doors?

Or was that even something possible to consider, in a realm of shadows? There was something about the doors that implied that some deep, ancient knowledge was hidden within the wood warmed by the sun.

The townspeople turned to look, and he wondered if they remembered seeing anyone else come through them before. They had, in cycles now past, witnessing him stumble through in a myriad of physical and mental conditions. But they died each time, and part of him believed everything the mask salesman had said. How could these people be anything but shadows, when they rose from the dead so easily?

_No_.

It was almost dreamlike: the brightness of the sun, the faces of the residents of Clock Town, the carpenters, the boy in the fox mask, the postman. There was something hidden behind the faces of all of those looking queerly at their visitor. He refused to believe that behind them were only wisps of smoke.

He was weak. The adrenaline had faded away, and the health potion wouldn't last much longer. He limped out, into the sunshine, raising his hand to block out its brilliance. It caught him off guard every time. The wound on his stomach was bright red, glistening out from the hole in his tunic. His shoulder was red as well, the claw marks infected. His other shoulder hurt internally. His hat was gone, lost somewhere in the explosion or raging river and ocean. He was as pale as milk, his eyes hollowed, almost. The long scar from what he remembered to be a horse chase was still in his leg. The scars from the burn marks on his right hand and foot were still there, both having entered poisonous water at one point. His palms were healing from scraping boulders and handling weapons constantly. And, of course, the scar on his chest was as large and black as ever, though that one was hidden beneath his tunic.

He had only stepped out of the wooden doors in worse condition once before. It had been after falling the length of the clock tower as a Deku scrub. He had appeared on the first day standing on his feet, even though he had been lying down when playing the song. He hadn't even been able to remain standing for a second. This time, Link appeared hardly able to, but he was limping nonetheless.

Tatl quickly turned to him worriedly, the sun making his injuries more apparent than the desolate wasteland had.

"Link...," she began. The townspeople seemed to notice how wounded he was. "Before we do anything else-"

"I know," he said. "Maybe this time I won't faint, and they won't have to carry me."

"What happened?" Tatl turned to see the lanky postman had stopped to talk to them. His red bag of letters was much more intact than Link's bag of possessions. The fairy flashed back to Deku scrub Link falling through the doors, collapsing onto the ground in a pool of his own blood. He had been perfectly fine on one side of the door, but passing through the doors had almost proved fatal, inexplicably, from her perspective.

The postman had asked the same question then, looking at them with the same wide eyes. It was the oddest sense of deja vu, Tatl having to shake her head to clear it. When she answered differently than she had before, it was an unsettling dissonance.

"I...," Tatl began, realizing she couldn't answer his question truthfully. _You see, he ran all the way across Termina to save me, the Skull Kid practically blew him up, and the moon fell, destroying the entire world and raining boulders down on top of us._ "We had trouble getting here. He's hurt. He needs help."

"So you guys...," the postman began, looking more interested at the clock tower's doors than Link, "... came from that door? From where?" He'd said the same thing last time, Tatl mused. It was funny to her how things had a tendency to happen the same way, even if her response had been different than it had been before.

She wasn't sure how to respond at first, realizing the question went much deeper than the postman would ever begin to understand. "I don't have time to answer that question, Spider Legs. By the time I was done telling you our story, fairy boy over here would probably be dead. Now- please. Can you help me get him to the Stock Pot Inn? Then I can go get Shikashi to see what he can do."

"I'm...," he had appeared to have been preparing some excuse, but he decided against it. Tatl wasn't sure whether it was due to his sense of curiosity or an inclination to do good that had changed his mind. His eyes found the ghostly pale boy before him, whose head was spinning. "I can help you really quickly. I'm on a tight schedule."

"Thanks," Link said, putting his uninjured arm around the postman's shoulders, who helped support his weight as they began to walk through South Clock Town. Tatl followed close behind, the early morning sun brightening all of Termina.

* * *

When Tatl awoke, the mask salesman already had a while ago. His back was against the rock wall to the cave, sitting and in deep thought. He was staring, transfixed, into the blue and red gems of the ring. He was turning it over in his fingers, his dark eyes distracted.

She stared at him hatefully for the longest time, but he didn't seem to pay her any attention. If he had noticed her evil glare, he gave no sign. "So, are we just going to sit here until time's up?" He didn't answer. "Are you going to go down with the ship? That doesn't seem like your style, what with your cowardice and all..." Tatl paused, suddenly remembering that Link had been almost certain the mask salesman knew they were time traveling. "... You go back in time with us, don't you?"

The mask salesman finally looked up at her at that, his fingers ending their continuous spinning of his ring. "How do you do that?" Tatl asked, curiosity beginning to take hold of her again. "Who are you, anyways?" He still didn't answer, however, turning away again to turn the ring in his hands. "You can't just ignore me!" The fairy's anger began to rise, slamming her palms against the glass furiously. "At least tell me where in the name of Farore we're going! You said we were going somewhere- why don't you just leave me _here_ if you want the moon to kill me?"

The mask salesman shifted at that, slipping the ring back onto his finger and staring off ahead. "We're going to make sure the boy survives his trip through the Skull Kid's cave. He'll die if he goes in there alone."

"Why are you so interested in keeping him alive? How does taking me away from him help anyone?"

Her captor sighed, his eyes finding hers, across the room from him in a bottle. "What if I told you that Termina was a land shadows?" His eyes did not waver from hers, for once, and he smiled when she didn't respond. "Something tells me this isn't news to you."

"... Shadows?" Tatl remembered her journey through the cave and the voices. She remembered the desolate wasteland on the other side. She remembered crying, as Link held her, reassuring her that she was not what the cave had deemed her.

"Ghosts and phantoms," the mask salesman clarified, slipping the glowing ring off of his hand and turning it in his fingers again. "Mere shadows of other worlds and people."

Tatl swallowed nervously as she looked down at her bottle. "You mean... we're all dead?"

The mask salesman instantly stopped turning over his ring at this statement, looking at his captor with interest. "No. Not necessarily. It's irrelevant as to whether or not the person whose shadow you are is still alive. What matters is that you're _not_ that person. You're all half-people, as far as I'm concerned. You may wear their faces, but you will never really be them."

"So I'm... wearing someone's face?" Tatl didn't quite understand. Her memories were her own, she thought. Her personality was her own, too; she never once had felt she was living the life of another.

"Maybe that wasn't the best analogy. You _are_ someone's face, but there's nothing hidden underneath. You're a shadow. Were you to leave this realm of darkness, you would go mad. That's why Majora's Mask was sealed away here, because all it is, is a land of shadows. There was nothing here to hurt. But that hasn't stopped it from trying to break out. If the mask isn't stopped, it will escape on its own accord and destroy everything. That's why I need Link."

Tatl took a moment to process what he'd said. _That's why Majora's Mask was sealed away here._ He'd said it so matter-of-factly. It was almost as if he had expected her to already know that. "And you're taking me from Link to save him? From me?" Her voice was shaking as she spoke.

"The lure of the shadows can drive one mad. To see someone you've lost or left behind, as if nothing had ever happened to them... But they're not the person you knew. They're just a shadow."

"Navi." The mask salesman's head shot towards her as soon as she said the name, but Tatl didn't seem to notice. "He thought I was Navi." She paused, facing him. "Am I... Navi?"

The mask salesman's expression was hard to read. "I don't know. There's no way to know."

Her brow wrinkled when she thought more about it. "How... do you even know who Navi is?"

He looked away from her, sliding the ring back on his finger firmly and staring at a corner, eyes wide. "I don't."

Tatl didn't want to press the matter, however, her mind going elsewhere. "It doesn't matter," she said. "He's come to accept me for who I am. I don't think he realized that meant he was accepting a shadow at the time, just a fairy who wasn't Navi. I think... he grappled with having me instead of Navi for a while, but after I died, and he went back in time to find another me, he's realized..."

"_No!_" the mask salesman suddenly yelled, getting to his feet and staring down at her. "No one can accept a shadow. Not if they truly cared about the person they once were."

"Did you fall in love with one of the shadows?" Tatl asked, not taking her eyes away from his. "Did you..." She looked away, reflecting over everything he had said and beginning to realize something. "... try to take one out of Termina- back with you?"

His face darkened, and he took a step closer towards her, gripping the bottle in his hand and rising it up just in front of his face. "If you ever ask me again about what happened between me and the shadows... I will kill you myself, and find a way to deal with the consequences that follow."

Tatl tried her best not to turn away, wondering if she even dared to hope that it was a bluff. "We're going to make sure the cave doesn't kill Link. Once it is the boy that leaves you behind, and causes the moon to kill you, his betrayal will turn him into one of you. I will mold him as a shadow that will do my bidding. After he's done in Snowhead, I'll be waiting for him in Clock Town- and ensure he gets me that mask."

The mask salesman stowed her away into his robes angrily, and she could see no more.

* * *

Link lay in a bed, staring up at the roof with the covers drawn to his chest. His tunic had been removed a while ago, to be washed and restitched, while an assortment of bandages covered his bare torso. Sunlight poured through the window of Anju's room, it orange with the light of a waning day. The mannequin with the wedding dress was bathed in the afternoon sun. The room was silent and empty, save for himself. His head was on the pillow as he stared up at the roof blankly.

He saw the waves touring high into the air, shooting up hundreds of feet. The white foam scraped the sky, the moon beckoning the ocean to leave its seabed and spring forward into the air like some great bird. The waves always came back down, however, into the spiraling, tumultuous madness of Great Bay. The foam of the water as it had swept he and Tatl away was just as tumultuous; he'd spun into the ocean, only for more waves to splash him in the face when he broke the surface.

For some reason, it was the water he remembered the most. The feelings of terror he'd felt while on the west coast still bubbled within him as he saw the water rage. Sometimes, in the water, he would see faces. He saw Koume's and Kotake's, Anju's, Navi's, and of course, Zelda's. He would see the mask salesman, and hear his evil, wicked laugh, with the cogs of the clock tower turning behind him. Then his eyes would open widely in shock, when the lightning bolt cut across the room to find him. _A shadow doesn't have a heart._ He would fly backwards through the air, his legs catching on the railing and causing him to spin over head first.

Then, the tall wave would crash back into the ocean again, only for another to smash through the hotel walls and occupy his mind. He dozed in and out of sleep, but he was afraid to sleep. When he did, he saw the wasteland. He saw the dead in the black ashes, and he heard the absolute silence. In the dream, he would be stuck there, alone, the last living person on earth. The only thought that went through his head was joining the dead, just to get away from the darkness- to make it stop.

But then he would awaken. Even with the knowledge that the dreams were only temporary, he couldn't bring himself to revisit the darkness in sleep. If there had been any other survivors after Majora's wrath had scorched the land, he decided they would not be survivors for very long. The willpower it would take to live in such a land was unobtainable, and, were it to be miraculously acquired, death would find them one way or another shortly after.

Even when he was awake, the thought intrusions still plagued his mind. In the waves, he felt the ground explode at his feet and saw droplets of blood fall to the sand. He saw the crescent moon and diagonal lines, and the fire that blasted the boulders around him.

He knew that they wouldn't end until his adventure continued. Though, he wasn't sure the willpower was there for him to do that. As his time here had continued, things had only grown more tragic. The past cycle had been the most horrifying yet; his journey through the cave and encounter with the ReDead creature had only been in the past three days. Before that, the siege of Clock Town and murder of the witches had taken place. If he continued- what were the horrors yet to come? With two temples left, would the trend towards depleting him of all happiness continue?

Reflecting on his hesitance to return to the wasteland, he realized Termina before the moon crashed was almost just as bleak as afterwards. Even after deciding there was more to be discovered regarding its true nature, he had decided the mask salesman was partially right. After all, it made sense. This land of shadows wasn't meant for people like himself, who had crossed over from another realm. In time, it would warp him into one of its own, stripping him of his identity and making it impossible for him to return. That is- unless Majora did not take control of him first. Through the black mark.

The scar on his chest was sore, more so than it had been before. His mind often saw the Skull Kid pulling the dark magic out of his chest, which he still wasn't sure he understood. It had hurt them; somehow the curse the imp had thrown at him had been corrupted. Had he subconsciously changed the magic, to make it his own? Was this a good thing, or a bad thing? He wasn't sure- but the fact that the Skull Kid feared it and was hurt by it boded well. Regardless, he resolved to fight the scar's effects on him at all costs.

His eyes went to the bedside table on his left, upon which sat the musical instrument that had kept him alive. It was marked – like he was. He wondered if that meant a part of the Skull Kid's magic was corrupting it as well. If he ended up having to go down with Majora in the end, would that mean the same for the Ocarina of Time?

Tatl came through the door, Link's eyes finding hers as she flew in slowly.

"Hey."

"Hi," Link replied numbly.

"Shikashi doesn't think you'll be able to walk before the carnival."

"Ah." He didn't seem all that surprised, turning to face the roof again. "Is Anju wanting to take me with her? To the ranch?" The innkeeper had offered him shelter there from the moon on occasion throughout his cycles, and had heard her talking about those plans on this one as well.

"Yes. Are you- going to go?"

"I don't think I really have much of a choice," Link said, as Tatl floated closer towards the bed. "Have you told them?"

"No," the fairy answered immediately. "I didn't think... it would make a difference. We're all just ghosts and phantoms."

"Tatl..."

"That's what the mask salesman said," Tatl interrupted.

"I don't care what the mask salesman said. He lied to and manipulated me, you, the Skull Kid, and Tael."

There was a moment of silence.

"Do you believe what he said about the flood?"

Link took a moment to consider.

"I don't know," he finally said. "I saw a drawing of it in the cave. I don't think the mask salesman is doing what he is doing to save anybody but himself, though. And I don't think he knows everything about Termina either." The fairy was silent. Link seemed to catch the odd reaction from her. "Is something wrong? Is there something you haven't told me yet?"

"No," she said. "I mean, not really. The only stuff I didn't tell you was about the mask salesman, but-"

"He doesn't matter anymore," Link interrupted. "He's dead. You checked under the tower and didn't see him."

"Yeah."

She still seemed distant, however, Link finding this disconcerting. "Tatl, everything's going to be okay." The fairy looked up at him, and from the glance, he could tell that she didn't believe him. "We'll take this one day at a time. What we both learned last cycle doesn't change anything. You're still my fairy."

"Of course."

Link wasn't sure what to say in the silence that followed. He merely watched as the fairy flew to lie on the other side of his head. She landed lightly on the pillow just behind him, Link staring off distantly and in deep thought.

* * *

When Tatl saw light next, she was dazzled by the view before her. It was a valley that descended deeply for quite a while, until it hit a high mountain peak that stretched wide enough to encompass the entire valley. What was behind it was hidden from view, but she knew what lay on the other side.

She knew just down the valley was the Skull Kid's cave.

The fairy turned around when she realized where they were, frightened. Her eyes found the ReDead mask, but it did nothing to freeze her. The gloved hand clasped her bottle firmly. "Why are we here?" Her voice was muffled, but she had begun to grow accustomed to that fact. When he didn't respond, she began to panic as he went to sit on a nearby boulder overlooking the valley. He brushed the snow away first, and then set her bottle down beside him.

"I already told you," he said. "To make sure Link doesn't die."

There was a silence that followed after that, with Tatl looking up at her captor from within her prison. The view was stunning, with the morning sun still young. She almost asked him why he had taken her from outside of his robes, but then decided that asking that question might get her shoved back inside again.

"Aren't you cold?" she looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. His cloak was rather light, and there wasn't enough clothing underneath to survive the blizzards that had been occurring.

"Not when I'm wearing my ring."

Tatl remembered the ring with glowing red and blue gems from earlier. With the gloves he had on now, it was hidden from view. She sat there for several minutes, afraid to talk and always on the verge of saying something but deciding not to. Did he want her to say something? Is that why he brought her out? Was it all apart of his plan? Or was he just as lost and confused as she was?

She swallowed before finally speaking, her voice shaking. "You don't have to do this," she said, weakly. He didn't seem phased. "You don't have to make Link a shadow – whatever that means. You didn't have to go through all of this. Whatever it is you need the mask for, Link and I..."

"You and the boy can do nothing, to stop what is coming," he said.

"What's coming?"

He sighed, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Hyrule is going to be destroyed by a great evil that will flood the entire land. Majora's Mask is the only thing that can save it." There was a pause, Tatl taking a moment to understand. "But I won't be able to talk the boy into handing it to me. He will insist on destroying it, now that he knows the evil it is capable of. But it _can't_ be destroyed. And if he doesn't bring it to me, it will break out on its own accord, and then destroy all of the worlds. If I take it... I can use it to stop the flood... I can use it to..."

He paused.

"It'll corrupt you," the fairy said, before he can finish. "And you're already corrupted. But once the mask takes a hold of you – nothing will be able to stop you."

"You sound just like the boy would. You've spent too much time together."

"Is that why you brought me out here? To get a second opinion on your evil plans?"

"I'm not evil."

"Then why are you killing fairies, turning boys into shadows, and obtaining dark masks?"

"I'm not killing fairies. I'm destroying a shadow. The mask is a means to an end, as is the boy's sacrifice."

"To what end? A world of darkness? Wouldn't the flood be a better end?"

The mask salesman glared at her after that comment. "How can everyone drowning be better than anything else? If we do nothing, everyone will be dead. At least I have a plan. Everyone else in Hyrule will be praying to gods with deaf ears and accept their demise when the rain comes."

"Why do you care so much about the people of Hyrule?" Tatl asked. "You don't seem to value life that much. I find it very hard to believe someone as twisted and dark as you would-"

She stopped short when the blood in her body froze. His dark eyes were shining behind the mask as he stared into hers. Unable to talk, she merely stared at him, horrified.

"No matter how much I want you to be her, I know you aren't," he began. Tatl almost thought she heard his voice shaking. "No matter how much I wish that deep down in your eyes, some remnant of her still exists, I know that's not true. I know that, because I found out the hard way that... the people in this realm are shadows. The mask though... the mask..."

His voice wavered, and Tatl felt the grip on her loosen, although it retightened itself quickly. "It could bring them back for real." There was a silence that followed, and Tatl wondered if he had forgotten she could not respond. "I'm sorry I killed you. I'm sorry I killed Zelda. I'm sorry Link has to become a shadow. I didn't choose this. But if we don't do this... if I don't do this... everyone is dead. Everyone. And after it's all done, I can make amends. With Majora, I could bring people back..."

He looked away from her, and the feeling in her body returned. "You're not her, Tatl. You're nothing. A husk. A shadow. Your a wisp that would lose all meaning as soon as you entered another world. But I hope somewhere, somehow, she can hear me... and understands." He looked away now, up into the sky, Tatl shakily backing away from him but unable to avert her eyes, even after control had been returned to her.

He spoke without facing her. "I saw your brother and friend both making their way to the cave. Tael will back out, but I'll convince him to go back so Link doesn't die. Then Tael will lead him to Snowhead and abandon him. I need Link to arrive in Clock Town alone. By then, I'll have given you to the Skull Kid... and I'll be waiting for him. The boy has forgotten his place."

He stuffed her back into his robes and got to his feet, hastily working his way down the slope. Tatl sat shivering in her bottle, as the dark sorcerer carried on.

* * *

"Hello?" Link looked up to the door, as the innkeeper spoke from the other side. "Can I come in?"

"Yes."

When the door was pushed open the rest of the way, her short red hair was visible. She walked over towards his bed in the same outfit she always wore on this day, past the mannequin.

"We'll be leaving for the ranch tomorrow," she said. "You're still welcome to join us."

"Of course," Link said.

"Do you want anything else to eat?"

"No, I'm fine."

Anju paused for a moment, appearing deeply troubled by something. Link, of course, knew that it was over her lover, Kafei, who had gone missing. The innkeeper didn't know he knew that, though. The boy also wondered if some of it had to do with him. Last time he'd been terribly injured in her bed, she'd overhead him speaking of Kafei in his sleep. He also couldn't shake the idea that maybe there was some faint familiarity she felt when looking at him, as if part of the Anju in the past cycles was in her.

_Some how, in some place or time, I will bring you and Kafei back together again, whatever it takes._ He'd held her hand as she lay dying in the South Clock Town plaza.

_Will I... know?_ she had asked him. _Will I feel it? Will I get to see him? Or am I... gone now? __It'll be some other, new me, won't it? I'll still be dead._

_You'll know_. Link wasn't entirely sure that had been true, as she looked at him from across the room now. It affirmed the theory that she was as shadow - as the mask salesman had told him.

"Anju?" She turned to face him, as soon as she had gone to leave the room. "Has anyone else ever come from inside of the clock tower before? From... outside of Termina?"

She paused for a moment, looking off as she thought. She'd probably been burning to ask him about his own arrival, but had been too polite to ask. "Not besides you." His arrival must have been unsettling to everyone in the town; he wondered how big the news was in comparison to the moon currently hovering over to destroy them.

"No one, ever?" Link inquired. She didn't respond. "It's just... I'm not quite sure how I got here, or what this place really is. I'm trying to find out as much as I can- to see if there's any way I can help."

"Help?" The worded sounded odd on her tongue, as if she recognized the fact that they did need help, but almost as if she wasn't quite sure what that meant. Anju took a while to say anything else, but the boy gave her time to find the words. "The Skull Kid came from the doors." Link hadn't expected this response, taken back by the piece of information. He had always assumed the imp had been an inhabitant of the realm. Was there more to the skull child in his role here, other than just being the unfortunate creature who stumbled upon the mask? "And... an old man." Before Link had even begun to process the first bit of information, she began telling a second story.

"It was quite a long time ago. I was too young to really remember it. It's not something we really like to talk about... the clock tower doors, I mean. But... when he came, it was a day like any other. This man stumbled out from under the tower in the middle of the day. Everyone says he seemed like he was in a hurry to get somewhere. As soon as he came running out, though, he fell into the middle of the plaza. He was very old... older than anyone who lived here. They said his hair was long and white, and his face was more wrinkled than any of our elders. And he died, in the middle of South Clock Town, as soon as he came in.

"The strangest thing about all of it, was that, apparently, he was also the happiest man anyone had ever seen. They said his face was filled with relief, and bliss. All he could do was smile, near laughing. There were no signs of injury anywhere on him- just his old age. But he appeared to be exactly where he wanted to be. None of the guards were brave enough to go into the doors to see where he'd come from, but it didn't really matter, in the end. He was dead. And no one knew his story."

The longest moment of silence yet to come followed this, Link turning the story over in his head as Anju stood near the door.

"It's no wonder everyone is so afraid of the doors, and what comes outside of Termina," Link finally said. "An evil skull kid, an old dying man, and... me are the only people who have come through. I probably looked like I was going to die there too, at first."

Anju smiled weakly. "I'm glad you aren't. At least we'll have one brighter story to add to the history of the clock tower doors."

"Does anyone know where the tower... and doors... came from?"

Anju's smile faltered, the weak expression having had no real emotion behind it in the first place. "They've just... always been here. I'm sure my grandmother would have a story for you, though, if you were that interested."

"Maybe," Link said. "It's hard for me to understand this place... how things happen here. Though I suppose, from your point of view, the people who come from underneath the clock tower are the ghosts and phantoms."

The boy had realized what he'd said too late, however, and he found a very disturbed expression on Anju's face. "You're not a ghost," she said, uncertainly. "And neither is anyone else. You can't come back from... from being dead."

She waited for Link to say something, but he didn't. Eventually, she turned around and left the room.

Link turned over in his bed to face the wall, his entire body still sore. He stared ahead blankly, wiping away the tears that came to his eyes.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

EX-MARK: I'm glad to see they are as well! And we'll have to find out.

SCAG: Hm... I think it's interesting that that has been called to my attention quite a few times in reviews. But as for Link and Tatl- I suppose it's not for me to say how you interpret their relationship, but I never viewed Link and his fairy sharing anything romantic. I had always assumed Link's romantic life was with Zelda, and it definitely has been presented that way in this story. I guess I shouldn't say never, because sometimes stories evolve past an original vision for them (as is the case with plenty of plot points in this one), so we'll have to see.

Quill: Haha, I'm glad I put those worries to rest! And I appreciate the Tolkien reference. As well as your compliment directed at my fight scenes! If there are scenes I feel the most self-conscious about it, it would be those. I've revised every single one who knows how many times before posting them; I'm glad you enjoy them!

Cardinal90: Right now, I don't plan on writing any further fan fiction. This project has been quite a massive one to tackle, so we'll see if I find the urge to start another one at some point later. My main focus is to finish this one. And as for your question regarding the flood... I definitely have more to develop regarding that plot point.

Pokemaniac themy: School has started for me, as well as all of my extracurricular activities, but I am determined to make sure I have time to write. I'm glad you're willing to wait though, because something tells me chapters won't come out on a weekly basis for the entirety of this arc!


	39. Seven Seconds

Note: Saying that I "don't have enough time to write" in the fall semester is a gross understatement. But things have begun to wind down recently, clearly enough for me to write the next chapter. Thankfully nothing too exciting and cliffhangery happened in the last chapter I managed to get up before my hiatus. Perhaps the space between arcs can be considered time for the five thousand things that happened in "Realm of Shadows" to be processed. "Ghosts and Phantoms" was a rather slow, wind-down chapter for our protagonists, as many of you pointed out, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), that isn't a thing that lasts very long in this story. So it will be picking up with a pretty brisk pace, narratively speaking (and pretty dark... narratively speaking). Because there's quite a bit I plan on cramming into this arc. And I would love to finish this story sometime before its fourth anniversary rolls around.

Recap, for those who need it: Link was last shown resting in the Stock Pot Inn, recovering from injuries gained during his battles with the mask salesman, Skull Kid, and the moon finally falling in the last "finale." Link and Tatl are both still struggling to come to terms with the revelation that, according to the mask salesman, Termina is a "realm of shadows," full of people who are echoes of people from other worlds, incapable of actually leaving Termina, and (once again, according to the mask salesman), genuine emotional depth. It was revealed that the mask salesman brought Link there simply to turn him into a "shadow" that would fetch him Majora's Mask, and a confrontation left the mask salesman dying underneath the clock tower in the loop that has now been left behind. The Skull Kid was last seen having resurrected Dark Link, before disappearing with his new servant back into the timeline. The story continues on the night of the final day, of our eighth three-day cycle.

* * *

_Chapter 39: Seven Seconds_

The moon was menacing as it bared down on Clock Town. Its orange eyes appeared angry, staring directly at the center of the plaza, as if it intended to land there. It made his legs slightly weak, to look up at it in its entirety. The vast surface of the rock expanded in every direction, taking up most of the nighttime sky. It had gradually grown closer each day, and now the town was practically empty.

He hadn't seen another human being for around an hour, but his shift would not end any time soon. Nonetheless, he held his spear firmly in his right hand, his armor polished and shining, visor drawn. The small voice that was afraid remained in the back of his head, however, threatening to give way if he gave any attention to it.

He swallowed nervously as he remembered his family, his fingers going to the steel gorget that now felt tight around his throat. They'd boarded themselves in their house in West Clock Town, but he knew that it would do no good. The guard began to consider what his neighbors had done; the Millers had ran for the mountains. Loading everything they could into a wagon, they hoped to make it to the Mountain Smithy, if it still existed. Though the threat of the wildlife on the way had to be taken into consideration as well. There were rumors of dodongos along the trail... He wondered if the Millers had made it alive.

He also wondered if they would have survived if they had stayed here.

The guard shifted nervously again, breaking his attention almost subconsciously. The fear within him was growing more tangible as the night grew later. He turned around to see the southern gate just behind him.

Was there any real reason for him to be standing here? Who would possibly _enter_ Clock Town, when there was such a terrible threat hanging above it? And who was he to attempt to try and stop anyone from seeking shelter?

But he had to remain at his post. He was a town guard, after all. He had to make sure those left here were safe... but what if remaining in the walls was where the danger was? What if the moon didn't stop falling?

He had to stop thinking. The guard resolved to do so, bringing his chest up high and staring straight ahead. He pretended not to see the moon in his peripheral, instead choosing to see the clock tower and the empty stalls. In just a couple of hours, he would be able to decide what to do with his family. Then the other guard would take his place– if he was still here.

_No, no. Look straight ahead._

He grasped the spear firmly in his hand once more, adjusting his fingers. The tightness caused by the armor around his neck was soon gone, and his legs stopped shaking. _You're fine. You're a guard of Clock Town. Clock Town. The biggest village in all of Termina. The moon won't fall. Everything should be fine._

He, at that moment, decided that everything _would_ be fine. Without a doubt. In fact, the moon almost boded well for him. Because it was menacingly hanging over Clock Town, it would scare away any bandits or monsters that might have considered sneaking in through the city gates. And he knew the moon wouldn't fall, so the fear the intruders must have felt was misplaced.

He raised his spear up off of the ground one more time, barely, placing it back down and listening to the sound echo. He saw another villager crossing the plaza, and it reassured him to see that not everyone had left.

He smiled to himself, and began to realize how hungry he was. There probably wasn't much food left in the town, since almost all of the merchants had left, so they wouldn't have much to dine on tonight. Thinking about it, though, he realized they probably had enough bread stored in the-

A sharp pain cut across his neck.

It was thin and quick, but it burned. His gorget parted as if it were paper, and suddenly warmth bubbled out and flowed over the steel of his armor. All other thoughts vanished as his mind suddenly went numb with panic and realization. His fingers let go of his spear, which clattered to the ground, as his gloved hands went to his throat, to then be covered in the red sheet that poured forth.

When he opened his blood stained lips, only choking noises came out, and all of the strength he'd recovered in his legs was lost. He collapsed to his knees, his eyes wide in shock, just in time to see the villager who had been crossing the plaza. A cry came from his mouth, and then he too fell to his knees, an arrow sticking out of his back.

The guard spun around and landed on his side, now staring at the southern gate as he bled out onto the ground. In the darkness, he saw a pair of terrible eyes, the shadow they belonged to lowering its bow, a sword stained with his blood still in one of its hands.

The bright red eyes were the last thing he saw.

* * *

He crawled, the pain in his back surreal. He'd been unable to stand up, the arrow in his back forcing him to the ground every time he was almost to his knees. So all he was able to do was pull himself forward, away from the demon he'd seen slit the throat of the guard. He groaned as he went, crawling to be behind the nearest stall.

The black boots were in front of his face before he made it.

"_No_," the injured man shuddered. The villager shakily raised his head to see bright red eyes baring down on him, the orange one's of the moon not far behind. It was darker than anything he'd seen before, the tunic and pointy hat it wore just as black. The red on its blade was the only contrast, matching its eyes. "_Please..._"

"_**Tell me where the Stock Pot Inn is, and I won't kill you**_."

The voice was chilling, as dark as its appearance. It spoke simply and with authority, as if unchallengeable and not expecting things to go any other way.

Blind with panic, as he remained shaking on the ground, he swallowed, the pain still firing through his body. "_It's... it's... up the stairs..._" His eyes watered as he pointed behind himself, turning back to face the shadow. "_It's the building under the town bell, across the plaza._" The red eyes continued staring, and the shadow didn't move. "_Please... I told you... I won't-_"

The shadow raised its blade and swiftly brought it down. The arm the villager rose to protect himself did no good, and his scream was silenced.

* * *

The lobby was dark as she sorted through the papers. The hotel was still and silent, only the rustling of the receipts filling the air as she went through the top drawer. She had expected Anju to be more organized than this; as her mother, she'd taught her better. Yet here was evidence that suggested otherwise, the many files chaotic to the point where finally leaving this hotel for the night would be delayed. Going through the papers, however, she discovered that no one was in any of the rooms that were supposed to be occupied; they'd checked out early. She realized there'd been no one but the boy and his fairy starting on the third day, stowed away in Anju's room. Everyone else had left.

She felt very uneasy about the two of them, swearing that some dark magic had to be involved. Nothing good ever came of those who came from underneath the clock tower. The boy had been so terribly wounded, and he hadn't been able to provide a coherent explanation for why that was the case. As bad as it was to think this, she almost wished he'd died, like the old man had. At least then, the only things that had come from it were gossip and a burial. No one had known where he'd come from, and no one had known his name. Link, on the other hand, promised to continue being a bad omen. It was the last thing her daughter needed, after the-man-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken had abandoned her.

Anju's mom sighed, closing the drawer shut and walking to go back into the hallway. She found herself in the kitchen, dumbing the soup in the large pot into a basin. She grabbed a washcloth and began to scrub furiously at a spot on the bottom under running water, but not before adding lard. The sound of the running water filled her ears, but the rest of the inn was silent.

Until she swore she heard the front door close.

She stopped, the water still running when she paused. Anju's mom placed the pot down slowly and dried her hands off. The middle-aged woman threw the towel down on the counter and walked towards the front desk, wiping her hands on her skirt as she went. However, the lobby was empty. She walked up to the counter, her hands grasping its edge as her eyes scanned the empty room. The door was shut, and it was as if no one had ever entered.

Anju's mom remained standing for a moment, looking down as her ears strained to hear. She had definitely heard the door open and close, not willing to believe she was imagining things. When a creak came from the obscured staircase to her left, her head instantly popped in that direction. _An intruder?_ Anju's mom suddenly found her heart in her throat. Had some robber come to the inn, expecting it to be deserted since the rest of the town was? Just before she'd been able to lock it up?

She grew nervous when she heard another step, and then another, and realized where the intruder was headed- Anju's room. She swallowed, quietly stepping back into the kitchen, grabbing the large pot she'd been washing firmly in her hands. She crept quietly past the desk, through the hallway and began to circle the staircase. She was right at the corner that would reveal the stairs, and she took in a deep breath when she heard another creak from above her. Then she stepped around it.

There was no one. Anju's mom stood at the bottom of the staircase, looking up inquisitively but not being capable of finding anyone. She began to make her way slowly up the stairs, realizing whoever this person was must have made it to the top. She gripped the pot firmly, but it was only a fourth of the way up the stairs when her eyes caught something on the handrails: blood. There were more spots along the handrail as it went up, some having collected more than others and slowly dripping down to collect on the stairs.

Her stomach lurched, and Anju's mom suddenly looked up the stairs with frightened eyes. She turned around, now going back down and rushing, her breathing heavy. _Grab the keys and get out. Grab the keys and get out._ She absent-mindedly placed the pot on the desk as she thrust the drawers open, sifting through the papers madly for the keys. She refused to look up, scrummaging through the mess until she found them, now panicking. _Come on, Anju. Look at this mess. Where are the keys, where are the..._

She found them. They jingled as she rose them in front of her face. She sighed with relief, turning around to be face to face with a pair of bright red eyes.

Anju's mom screamed, the keys falling to the floor as she backed into the desk. Her pupils were wide as she took in the dark being before her. It was as black as midnight, and it looked... _exactly_ like the boy, except dark. It even had a sword and shield behind its back.

"What are you?!" she asked, her voice wavering. The dark being didn't respond, instead reaching onto its belt and pulling out a dagger. He pointed it in her direction.

"_**You have seven seconds to tell me where they went**_."

They? She somehow knew exactly who the shadow was talking about. But Anju was with them; she couldn't let this dark being know where they were. The three of them had left for Romani's ranch just hours before, to take shelter from the moon. She had been right about the intruder going to their room; she had been right about the dark omen.

"I'm not telling you anything," she finally managed to muster. Her hands firmly grasped the desk pushed against her back. There was hardly any distance between them. There was no way around it, and she was too terrified to attempt to crawl over the desk, knowing she wouldn't be quick enough.

The monster did not respond. It merely stood there, staring at her with red eyes. Dagger drawn. Counting. She panicked, wondering what number it was on, wondering if its threat was serious, wondering if she would die instantly.

"Wh-wh-who are you? What do you want?"

No response.

"S-s-say something! I'm being serious. I..." her hand wrapped around the pot's handle, it resting just beside her. "I have a pot!"

As soon as seven seconds had passed, it took a step towards her, quicker than she'd imagined was possible. She swung the pot with all her force in its direction, but the dark being did not spare another second before the pot was spiraling in the air, a trail of red following it.

It wasn't all that long before she finally told it where they were.

* * *

The caravan flew into the air, Link's stomach screaming in protest as he slammed back down onto the hay.

"_Oomph!_" Tatl exclaimed, having been lying beside him. "What the Din! This isn't Caravan Kart. Cremia is aware weren't not racing anybody, right?"

"There really wasn't much of a road going from Clock Town to anywhere else. It was all over-grown. I'm sure it's just hard to drive through."

She had an irritated glare in her eyes when she looked back at the boy, but it quickly faded. The fairy sighed when she went to lie beside him. The cart was shaking quite madly as it slowly rolled through Termina field. Link was lying in the back, the curtains drawn all the way across the wagon's opening at the end. Hay was the only other thing riding with him, the wooden vehicle creaking as it moved steadily along. Just behind his head, on the other side of the tarp shielding them from the outside world, Link knew Anju and the owner of Romani's ranch were sitting on the bench facing forward, guiding the horse pulling the caravan forward.

Link's hand rested gingerly on his wound, a blanket covering his bare torso while his mended clothes sat in a pile off to the side. Bandages covered his injured, crippled body, and he had begun to regain strength day by day. It hadn't been quick enough, however. He was no where close to being able to run, which was necessary, given his endeavors; he could barely walk. The boy eyed his sword and shield nonetheless, wanting to be back to his feet again as soon as he could. His blonde hair had been recently cut short, but his eyes were still blue and shone just the same.

He saw the waves towering high into the air, the sky a tumultuous mixture of vibrant colors... He looked into the terrible eyes of the ReDead mask, forced down to his knees... he looked sadly into Tatl's eyes as she sat in the bottle, unable to reach her... he looked into his own eyes, glowing purple and terrifying as he screamed in pain... he could hear the cogs turning underneath the clock tower...

Link shook his head. He needed to get back to his feet and continue freeing the giants. Sitting here, mulling over everything that had happened was too much. He needed adventure. He needed a distraction. He needed to end this quest. He looked at the fairy resting beside him and caught her eyes, wondering if she was thinking the same thing. He wondered if she could think, being a shadow and all...

_No. The mask salesman doesn't know what he's talking about._

Another bump. Link's stomach cringed again, and Tatl scoffed once more. "All I know, is that we'd better get there soon. I still think we should have played the Song of Time at the inn."

"Then I'd just fall over as soon as I appeared," Link said, an edge to his voice. "I want to get as much rest as possible before I play it."

"Like these last couple of hours are going to help at all."

"Cremia will be able to help. She has more back at her house than Shikashi had."

"No. You just like to cut it as close as possible every time. You _thrive_ off of the adrenaline. Maybe if someone's trying to kill us five seconds before the moon falls again you'll feel better."

"Tatl!" Link exclaimed, the fairy's back to him. She turned around a few seconds later to see he was worriedly looking at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just perfect. Never been better than I am now, in this dismal, meaningless world of ours."

"Tatl..."

"No, Link. I don't want to talk about it. The mask salesman did plenty of talking already; let me just lay here."

Link uncertainly averted his eyes as he rested his head back down. His eyes became heavier as the rhythmic tempo of the journey continued, but Link shot awake every time, knowing that he'd already slept too much these past three days. He thought he'd been successful staying awake until he was jolted awake by the wagon coming to a complete stop. Tatl floated up into the air soon after, and the cover at the end of the wagon was thrown open, Anju peeking her head in. "We're here."

Link began crawling towards the mouth of the caravan, Tatl and the innkeeper watching him wearily as he got to the edge, grimacing at the pain. He brought his legs around and softly lifted himself down from the back, Anju supporting him as his bandaged feet touched grass. Tatl flew back in to grab the effects of his she could carry: everything except for the sword and shield. The boy, upon straightening himself, bared his teeth and took in Romani ranch.

The opening to the wagon faced a long dirt road; it stretched into the foreseeable distance, going underneath a large sign whose back faced him. It seemed to be mostly a blank, open field of grass and hay, a few trees scattered here and there. Two large buildings could be seen further in the distance, but two smaller ones were very near Link, just behind where the caravan had been parked. One was a small wooden barn, while just across from it sat a small house. The barn appeared empty, no animals making noises within, and the house looked dark and vacant.

A girl sat on top of a crate just outside of the barn. She appeared much younger than Link, wearing a long white dress. She had lengthy red hair that came down to her waist, the girl simply sitting there in the dark, staring off into the distance. Link began hobbling over in her general direction, where Cremia had gone. Cremia, who was much older than Link, appeared to be an exact replica of Romani, only around ten years older. They were sisters, he knew, tasked with running the ranch on their own. Link soon let go of Anju once he felt like he could walk on his own, limping over towards the sisters, his fairy just beside him with his new bag in her hands, clothes and remaining possessions stuffed inside.

"Romani, what are you doing?"

"You... you... practice?..."

Link approached confused, an eyebrow raised when he saw the older sister bent over her younger one, her hand placed on her shoulder, looking at her worriedly. Romani, the young girl, simply stared ahead, her eyes vacant. "You shouldn't be out here like this. In the cold. You need to go inside. What are you doing?"

"Practice...," Romani said distantly, still staring off. "I need to... I don't remember... but I need to... to practice..."

Cremia turned back to Link, Anju, and Tatl just behind them. She straightened herself, nudging Romani off of the crates and recomposing herself. "Sorry. Romani – ever since... the cows disappeared..."

Link's worried expression turned to the empty barn they were in front of. "Disappeared?"

Cremia didn't meet his eyes, gazing off, coming back a few seconds later. "Sorry. Let's go inside." She lead Romani in that direction, her younger sister appearing hardly able to keep up. Link limped behind, with Tatl carrying the bag and Anju making sure the boy didn't need anymore help.

Tatl, as her gaze drifted towards the small, quaint, two-story house, saw something that made her eyes widen. The strap to the bag slipped through her fingers, falling to the dirt road as her jaw dropped. The fairy looked to see if Link had noticed, but he hadn't, still looking confusedly at Cremia and Romani as they approached the house.

"L-look!"

Link turned around to notice the same thing, before having to follow Tatl's gaze.

There was a small pen just outside of the house, a wooden roof and tall metal gate sealing off its contents. Inside of the small space, along with dirt, mud, and hay, was a horse. Her sleek brown coat and white mane was exactly how he remembered it being, her black eyes staring ahead at the newcomers, buzzing her lips.

"Isn't that your horse?!"

Link stared ahead at the pen for a moment, processing what he was seeing before a smile spread across his face. "Epona..." He began to walk excitedly towards her, almost falling before Anju showed up to support him.

"Link, what are you-"

"It's my horse," Link told the innkeeper, smiling broadly as his eyes met his steed's. "It's Epona." The horse seemed to buzz her lips in response, nuzzling on the metal gate as if to reach him. Link got to his feet on his own, covering what little distance remained until he was leaning against the pen. He reached out his hand tentatively, afraid she would vanish before his fingers got to stroke her coat.

But she didn't. The soft, warm fur on her nose was exactly as he remembered it, stroking it while Epona neighed softly in content. Tatl and Anju watched just behind him, the fairy looking surprised, while Cremia looked over as she opened the door for her sister. Romani stepped inside, her older sister walking to join the innkeeper and fairy watching the reunion.

"Do you ride?"

"Yes," Link said, turning to face Cremia and smiling, the happiness apparent on his pale and shrunken face. "Where did you find her?"

"Find her?" Cremia inquired. "Is she yours?"

Link nodded, turning back to Epona and scratching her gently. "She was stolen from me. The Skull Kid brought her here and then got rid of her... I thought..." Link furrowed his brow, however, wondering how much of that was true. The horse chase had been fabricated, hadn't it? And how could Epona have been brought all the way down the tunnel anyways? Assuming there had ever been one. Link realized, even then, he still didn't have all of the answers regarding his entrance into Termina. If he hadn't stumbled upon a hole and fallen into Termina, then how exactly had the mask salesman sent him here?

The next time his blue eyes met Epona's, he realized she had to be a phantom, a ghost. Like Tatl. Like everyone else in this realm. Epona seemed to sense this feeling of uneasiness in him, pushing up against his hand as if to reassure him. Link's smile faltered though, his mind now distant as he stroked her.

"We found her wondering Termina field about three days ago." Three days ago; before the cycle had started. Before he'd come through the clock tower doors. It was now the final night, and there were only hours left. "We've been taking care of her, but... if she's yours... then..."

Link turned to face Cremia, nodding his head. "Thank you. She's the last thing I have left of home." The owner of the ranch nodded, turning back to lead the horse that had pulled the caravan into the barn. Link turned back to his horse, the ghost of his previous smile still present.

"You probably won't be able to ride her for a few days," Anju said.

Link looked up into the sky. The moon practically blotted it out, the red and purplish colors beginning to fill its canvas again. "If we have that long," Link responded, knowing that he would bring Epona back in time with him regardless of whether he could ride her.

Anju looked up into the sky nervously. "We should go inside. We can move your horse into the stables before..." She trailed off, not entirely sure how to finish the sentence. Link knew it would do no good, however. The only key to surviving the wasteland was in the bag Tatl had just picked back up.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Link brushed his face up against Epona's, closing his eyes. "I found you, girl. Don't worry." He wondered if the buzz in response was due to her recognizing him as her master, or simply joy at receiving a stranger's attention.

Link let her go, and then they turned to enter the house.

* * *

Link sat at the table across from Romani and Cremia. Anju was just beside him, Tatl resting on the table on his other side. The boy found it hard not to glance at Romani as he ate his potatoes and beef, the younger sister staring vacantly at her plate. Whenever she spoke, it was distantly about some kind of "practice," but she mostly kept quiet, unable to do much at all.

"Romani, you have to eat." Cremia brought the spoon up to her sister's mouth, even brushing it against her lips, but she wouldn't stop staring at her plate. Eventually, she did open her mouth, taking the spoon out of her sister's hands and beginning to start eating on her own. "There you go." Cremia smiled slightly, turning back to her own food as Romani finally did something other than sitting there.

The owner of the ranch looked up to see Link, Anju, and Tatl looking at her, the three averting their gaze as soon as Cremia found it. She uncertainly turned back to her food, beginning to stir it absent-mindedly.

"If there's anything we can do to help... please let us know," Anju said, Cremia nodding her head with her eyes shut. The house shook, another earthquake taking ahold of Termina.

"Was it... the Skull Kid?" Link asked, his mind having automatically suspected the masked imp of this treachery.

Cremia shook her head, her brow furrowed as if she wasn't sure what he meant by that. "No. At least, I don't think so. I don't actually know what happened..." She opened her mouth to continue, but then paused, staring off as she began to recall details. "In the middle of the night, two days ago, this... really bright light woke me up. It seemed massive, and came from outside, but when I went out there, I didn't see anything. And... I couldn't find Romani."

She covered her mouth, laying her fork down as she met Link's eyes. "The cows were gone too. I searched all night for her, for them... for a sign of anything. But I didn't find her until the next morning. She came walking slowly down the dirt path, to home, but she... she wasn't the same. She was holding this lantern in front of her, with a bright light in it, and... I asked her where she'd been, but she couldn't tell me... she wasn't the same... I tried to take the lantern away from her, but she attacked me... and ever since..."

Cremia shook her head, the tears now rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly, Romani still staring intently at her food as she ate, apparently not having heard a word she said. Link then noticed a noise coming from outside: fireworks. It was now midnight, and the carnival had arrived. Six hours remained.

Romani heard them, too, looking up from her meal and staring out the window to find their source. When she couldn't, the young girl hurried towards the door, opening it and stepping outside. Cremia hadn't noticed in time, standing out of her chair and going to follow her. "Romani, no!" She chased after her, and then Link, Tatl, and Anju were left alone.

"You should get some rest," the innkeeper said, after a moment's silence between them. "Would you like me to help you upstairs?"

"Sure," Link said, his meal finished. He allowed Anju to help him to the second story, walking into the bedroom he would use that night. His stuff was laying on a bed near the window, across the room from where the door was. Link walked over to the window, looking out to see the barn now void of farm animals, save for one horse, while his was in the pen beside the house.

"If you need anything, just let me know."

Link nodded, noting the sadness in the innkeeper's eyes when she left the room. He knew she had wanted to wait in Clock Town for Kafei, but her mother had talked her out of it, who would soon be heading down to join them at Romani Ranch for shelter.

Tatl looked around once Anju left, taking in the homely feel of the small room. "It's hot in here," the fairy said. "How much longer are we going to wait until we play the Song of Time?"

"In an hour or two. I want to take a quick nap before it's suddenly six in the morning three days before again. It'll be a long crawl all the way back to the Stock Pot Inn..."

Tatl scoffed, flying over to the window. "Well, at least open this before you do. It's really warm."

Link did just that, putting his stuff at the foot of the bed and lying there. The fairy remained floating at the window, staring out at the dark sky, transfixed.

* * *

The world around him spun, the blood in his veins seemingly frozen, incapable of movement and stuck in the same position. It had happened the moment he had made eye contact with the face of the ReDead. Epona had fled the scene in terror, galavanting through the forest away from them. The ReDead creature intensified its grip, Link swearing he saw a pair of eyes behind the surface of the face... and then the pain in his head exploded. He collapsed to his knees, his vision not clearing in the slightest as his attacker came closer. Link fell to his side, losing consciousness as the figure stared at his fallen body.

Consciousness returned to Link for a brief moment. He was lying on his stomach on Epona, ropes securing him tightly to his horse. Epona was walking calmly forward, Link lifting his head to see the cloaked figure who had knocked him out. It was facing away from him, the horse's reins in its gloved hands, leading her calmly onward.

They were on a rocky cliff, the forest to their right, and a sharp edge on their left, a stormy body of water splashing up onto the cliff and dashing the rocks with water. Up ahead was a small shack, it gray and feeble, the structure weathered and ancient. The figure seemed to be approaching it, but Link was unable to discover anymore, his head falling limply back down onto his horse.

Time slipped away from him again. When it returned, he was being unfastened from the horse, Link's vision blurred when he saw the face of his attacker. He no longer had the face of a ReDead, but the face a bird: an eagle. Epona seemed drawn to the face, Link watching as she tried to lick it, the dark man pushing her face gently away as he continued to untie the boy.

Then he was lying against the outside of the shack, head lolled to the side as he watched the hooded figure on his knees several feet away. He was facing away from him, his head and hood down, red hair blowing in the wind. He cried into his hands, where a fairy was, lifeless and sprawled against his palms.

* * *

Cremia sat on the crate outside, Romani lying against her chest with her older sister's arms wrapped around her. The two sat alone, in the cold dark, Cremia openly weeping while Romani simply stared off, looking confused and lost. "_Please come back to me, Romani. Please._"

"I'm... I'm right here, Cremia... I'm right here..." Romani spoke distantly, her eyes fluttering shut as she buried her head in her older sister. "We need to... to practice... Cremia... before they come..."

Cremia held her even tighter, wishing more than anything that she'd listened to her. She'd been right. Romani had tried to warn her that something was going to happen, and she hadn't listened. And now, it was too late.

They remained like that, on the crate, for quite a while, the only light being the lantern hanging by the front door several feet away. Cremia held Romani close as she began to fall asleep, the air still outside underneath the sky, the moon quite frighteningly staring at the center of Termina. When the owner of the ranch looked up next, something was staring at them.

It was standing just off of the road, bright red eyes merciless, hardly inches separating them. Cremia screamed, jumping up from the crate and startling Romani awake, pulling her off of it with her. The dark creature grabbed her little's sister's other wrist, however, before she could pull her safely back into her grasp, Romani torn away from Cremia. The shadow held Romani firmly against itself, a dagger drawn in its other hand and held tightly against her throat. It looked like an exact replica of the boy in her house, except dark as midnight. It hadn't made a noise coming up the trail, and now it had her sister.

"_No!_" Cremia exclaimed, taking a step forward, but stopping when the dagger was pressed harder against Romani's throat, a trickle of blood running down her neck. The little girl gasped, her eyes squeezed shut as she whimpered, her attacker's eyes not wavering from Cremia's. The red circles were hard to stare into.

"_**You have seven seconds to give me the boy**_."

Cremia stammered, Romani opening her watery eyes to plead with her sister standing just across from them. "_Just let her go! Please!_" The creature said nothing, merely meeting back her gaze. The eyes appeared to only harbor darkness, nothing within them appearing to relent.

"Cremia...," Romani stammered, trying her best not to move, as the blade bit into her.

"_NO!_" Cremia took another step forward, her eyes frantic. "_They're upstairs! Please just don't hurt my sister... please... he's upstairs in the bedroom asleep... just don't kill Romani..._"

The shadow's red eyes never wavered, and neither did the weapon in its hand. The air held its breath, waiting, Cremia not prepared to watch the last thing she truly cared for die.

It brought the knife off of Romani's throat, throwing her down into the ground. The shadow swiftly walked towards the house, passing Cremia as it approached the front door. Romani merely remained in the dirt, curling up into a ball and crying. Cremia ran to her side, bending down to pick her up, cradling her in her arms while on her knees on the walkway. "_I'm here. I'm right here_."

A brilliant wave of heat suddenly filled the air, Cremia still clinging to her sister when she turned to see fire spreading across the front of her house. The broken lantern was still in the shadow's hand, which was then dropped to the ground, the dirt absorbing the impact as the orange, red, and yellow danced and crackled with life, spreading across the wooden abode. Epona screamed in terror, backing away from the metal gate while the fire neared her pen.

"_No!_" Cremia screamed, getting to her feet and pulling Romani up with her. She reached out one hand in vain, the other holding her sister close, her empty fingers only able to stretch out over air as her house burned. The shadow turned to face her one last time before disappearing into the burning house. Cremia's face was still wet with tears when she turned, walking as fast as she could down the street and away from her home, her catatonic, wailing sister close.

* * *

Link awoke to Cremia's scream.

His head shot from his pillow, the images of the mask salesman fading from his mind as quickly as they'd come. He turned to see Tatl, on the pillow behind him, startled awake as well. They stared at one another for a moment, uncertain to what'd they'd just heard. The fairy flew to the open window, peering outside to see what was happening. She flew back in seconds later.

"_It's that shadow thing!_" the fairy whispered, looking terrified.

"What are you talking about?" Link asked, his body stiff and his stomach in pain from the abrupt way he'd woken up.

"Remember, in the temple, in Woodfall? When that evil spirit in Odolwa's mask made a dark copy of you? And you absorbed it inside of your scar?"

Link remembered, the terrible images of Dark Link coming to his mind. "But... that's not possible... He was inside of me, apart of the scar... how could he have gotten out?" Then his mind remembered the Skull Kid ripping out the piece of dark magic from his chest, and it laying in a pile of goop on the floor, the imp having eyed it hungrily.

"The Skull Kid. He took it out. Its working for him now." After explaining this to Tatl, Link threw the covers off, getting to his feet slowly and painfully.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He lifted his bag onto the bed beside him, opening it to make sure everything was there: his four masks, two pick axes, money, matches, Lens of Truth, clothes, and ocarina. The only possessions he had left. _Except_...

"Then let's play the freakin' song and get out of here!"

"But my sword and shield... and Epona. They're all outside."

Then a brilliant light came in through the window, as well as a brilliant heat. The images of the flames flickered within the house, the sound of fire loud. Link and Tatl turned towards each other, and then they heard another scream from inside of the house. _Anju_.

He quickly opened his bag, scrambling through the possessions, his mind racing. The smell of burning reached him. Link pulled the clay instrument out of his bag, putting it to his lips and playing it. He heard his horse screaming outside, but tried his best to ignore it, closing his eyes as he let the song flow.

His head flew to the side violently before could finish, his face screaming in pain and his jaw ringing as he watched his ocarina spin through the air. It, due to the dagger that had cut across his face and knocked the instrument away, went through the window, out of the house and into the grass below. Link turned to the bedroom door, grasping his now bleeding cheek, as the weapon landed just beside him.

There stood Dark Link. Red eyes having found its target. Smoke bellowed in from behind the shadow, from the kitchen downstairs.

It didn't waste a second, and neither did the boy. The shadow drew a bow from its back, drawing any arrow and aiming it at the boy, blocking the doorway across the room. Link hastily picked up the dagger at his feet, throwing it across the room back at its owner. Dark Link's eyes widened momentarily, but it sidestepped the projectile gracefully, the dagger falling down the stairs behind itself. Link had already grabbed his bag and was running for the window, flinging his body out as an arrow soared just by him.

The fall was short and quick. He landed on his shoulder, unable to find the scream to express the pain that followed. Tatl flew out of the window behind him, Link struggling to get to his feet and grabbed his ocarina and other belongings, clutching his bag as he stumbled away from the burning house. It now was a torch, the fire loud and uproarious as it claimed the right side of the house, beginning to spread to the left. Epona neighed loudly, backed as far into the pen as she could away from the roaring flames.

It was a bright light behind him, Link out of breath and his mind swimming as he ran blindly for the wagon, which sat not far away on the dirt road. He saw Anju running away from the ranch some distance down the road, Cremia and Romani even farther ahead of her. "_Link! He's coming!_"

The fairy's voice was just behind him, but he barely heard it. He had to get to the wagon. His sword and shield were there. It would provide shelter for him to play the Song of Time quickly. But he fell. Link collapsed onto his stomach mere feet from it, his face in the dirt and his body in agony. "_No! Link, get up!_"

He turned around onto his back, the world a blur as Dark Link stepped out of the burning house. Its red eyes seemed to burn just like the fire, as his black boots didn't make sound stepping closer towards him. It drew the dark blade, the steel ringing as it was brought into its left hand. The fairy screamed frantically from behind, flying as quickly as she could towards the wagon, as if to grab his sword, but too late. Link could only lay on his back and watch as the shadow stood over him, raising its sword to end his life.

The neigh to follow from Epona was the loudest yet, her legs clomping through the dirt as she ran from the burning pen, metal gate bent and askew. Her hooves came down on top of the shadow, repeatedly trampling it into the ground, the shadow's sword leaving its fingertips as it was pounded into the earth, the fire raging behind her. The world shook, the moon rocking the scene below as it came even closer to ending the world.

When Epona stepped away from the dark being, Link looked up to see the shadow mangled and grievously injured, but no blood having been spilt. Its red eyes looked up from the dirt angrily at him, its remaining arm reaching for something. The horse shook her head back in triumph, standing just beside Link. The boy couldn't help but smile, when his animal reached her head down close to his, nuzzling against his face.

The pain was still surreal, however, and he was brought back to reality even further when the shadow began to rise to its feet. Link's brow furrowed in confusion, watching as its body began to reconstruct itself, the shadow returning to life as if Epona had never harmed it. "_No_..." Epona neighed furiously in response, backing away from the resurrecting shadow, its red eyes staring malevolently at Link as it was reborn.

He got to his feet as quickly as he could, using Epona for support, looking up to see Tatl exiting the caravan. She was barely managing to carry his sword, looking aghast when she noticed his rising attacker.

Link, with the last remaining bit of strength he had left, got to his feet and stumbled into his horse. The boy pulled himself over Epona, only able to lay over her back, incapable of sitting. "_Go!_" he screamed, kicking into her sides. Epona ran, her four legs propelling her as far away from the scene as she could, Link clinging to her neck desperately, her bare back knocking around a body that was unable to take much more. He squeezed his eyes shut, the sound of the fire dying behind them, the sound of the arrows that barely missed his head terrifying.

_Epona..._ Link thought to himself. _It's you._ And in that moment, there was just the sound of his horse's hooves running on the dirt road, and the wind running through him, the town bells distant. And there was the pain. The pain that was crippling him.

* * *

They didn't slow down until they were quite a ways into the forest, Link still clinging to Epona's neck once she'd stopped. It didn't take long for Tatl to catch up, still struggling with the weight of his sword. She dropped it into the dirt beside them when the fairy realized they'd stopped, looking worriedly at the out of breath Link. He slid off of Epona and collapsed into the ground beside her, the horse turning her head confusedly to the side at her fallen master.

"_Link..._" She floated down beside him, the boy only able to lay there in the dirt, his bag and ocarina having fallen with him. The fairy didn't know how much longer he could keep going, knowing now that another three day cycle to recover would not be enough. "I don't think Shikashi is going to be enough..."

Link shook his head as best as he could. "But I know who will." He'd thought of it while Epona had been galloping away. He'd known that recovering would be impossible naturally, and had thought to the witches and their potions. His mind had gone further, however, going to the first person who'd ever helped when he entered Clock Town. "The Great Fairy."

Tatl took a moment to realize what he was saying, then nodding her head. She could only look at Link for a little bit longer, though, the pain he was in disturbing, realizing talking was for later. "You should play the Song of Time before you... can't anymore." She looked up at the sky. "Besides, we don't have much time left."

Tatl shifted uneasily, watching Link sit up, scooping in his bag and sword near him and holding his ocarina in his hands. She flew eagerly into his shoulder, clinging to it tightly. Link seemed taken aback at first, but then he smiled back at her, calling Epona to come by his side as well.

The ground shook. He played his ocarina, with the horse and fairy close to him, the earthquake ending moments later.

* * *

Anju ran. The tears had stopped a while ago, and now she began to slow down, her escape through the trees ending. She wasn't entirely sure how far away from the ranch she was, but the image of the demon with the red eyes had kept her running. It had set the house afire and then walked right past her to Link and Tatl, who she assumed were both dead. It was just her, though she'd seen Cremia and Romani run through the trees off of the dirt road. She had been attempting to catch up with them but couldn't.

Now she stood alone in the trees shivering, wishing she had someone there with her. "_Kafei..._"

_… I needed to let you know that I haven't forgotten you. I'm still here, still waiting for the time in which I can take you back into my arms._

The words of the letter were burned into her mind. She had gone to the Laundry Pool where he'd asked her to address the letter, but she never got a response or heard from him again. Why hadn't she waited for him? Now she was alone, cold, and in the forest by herself. Why had she let her mom talk her into going to the ranch?

_Mom_. _No._ Had the demon gotten her too?

"_No..._," Anju whispered, wondering off in the direction where she believed the road would be. And as if mentioning it had summoned it, she saw the shadow.

The innkeeper gasped, darting behind the nearest tree. She, after a moment of steadying herself, looking around carefully to see the dark version of the boy standing not far away. Its eyes were no longer red. They were purple, but just as cold and just as terrifying. Despite the unexpected color change, however, they had not found her. She appeared to still be hidden.

The dark creature was staring into the ground, but intently, it hard to tell if it was looking at something or thinking, given its pupil-less, dark violet eyes. She waited there for a moment, afraid to move, afraid that the slightest noise would give herself away.

"_**The cave**_." It spoke darkly and chillingly, appearing to be talking to itself, its eyes not wavering at all.

Then, the shadow snapped its head up, as if having ended whatever it was doing. Immediately, its eyes were red again, as crimson as they had been before, and the creature now seemed to be in a completely different mental state. It began to take tentative steps forward, not appearing quite sure what to do, or as if it wasn't thinking clearly after exiting whatever trance it just had. The earth began to shake, Anju knowing that the moon was now dangerously close, and that the quakes wouldn't stop any time soon.

Her foot, however, crunched on a nearby branch when she lost her balance.

The shadow instantly found her, its red eyes finding hers. She stopped, out of breath and only able to stare forward at the embodiment of darkness standing before her. Nothing happened. It merely stared, and soon the earthquake ended.

Unexpectedly, Dark Link vanished, without a trace.

Anju uncertainly circled the area, cautiously looking over her should all the while, but she was unable to find anything. The shadow was gone.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Quill: Thanks! I enjoy writing in that style quite a bit; it's helpful in moving the story forward and keeping it interesting. And yes! I mentioned the old man like right at the beginning of chapter 3; I'm glad some people have picked up on that. But I hope you appreciate what's to come, too!

Santiago: Ikana was one of my favorite parts of the game. I can't wait to get to it either. And ah... I'd be interested to hear your theory on that! But yes... what could have happened between the mask salesman and the shadow...? *strokes chin*

SCAG: And the Skull Kid! And I suppose technically Tatl. But more to come on that. And that's sort of what the mask salesman was getting at, but "clones" is definitely not the right word.

EX-MARK: Thanks! The old man's identity is certainly something to be considering.

Goombaking123: Thank you; I hope you think this wait was worth it too. And there is a very high possibility that more is to come on the mask salesman, haha, though weaving Mario and Shigeru Miyamoto into the story in a sensical way may be beyond my ability, haha (and not the direction I plan on taking).

pokemaniac themy: Thanks! I'm not sure what you mean by "that psychology show", but I'm happy you enjoy my story, and that it reminds of you other authors.

Steph: I definitely never pictured it as a happy story, but I've definitely made it a lot darker than it was in the game. I'm glad you like it, though! :)


	40. The Healer

_Chapter 40: The Healer_

It happened as it always did.

The doors of the clock tower opened. The sun blinded him. The people stared at him. He and Tatl came out of the doorway, and it was the boy who was grievously wounded. He took one step out, dropping his bag, ocarina, and sword and falling to one knee. The fairy flew down beside him, their eyes still adjusting as the citizens of South Clock Town began to become fascinated by their appearance.

Link's face was twisted in agony, looking around himself as if for something in particular, in spite of the pain and the time travel. His hands went to the floor to steady himself as he blinked heavily.

"What's wrong?"

"Epona," Link said, looking at Tatl with wide eyes. "Where's Epona?"

The fairy saw the fear in his face, her expression falling when she made the same realization he had. Tatl gulped, looking around but not seeing the horse anywhere.

"We left her," Link said, staring at the plaza floor now. "We left her because the ocarina couldn't take her back too."

"You don't know that," she reassured him, turning to the clock tower doors. "She could be in here!" She motioned towards the doors, Link quickly scooting towards them and pushing them open with his body.

They creaked open, spilling light into the dark room underneath, but there wasn't a horse waiting for them. It was empty, only the usual sounds of the tower filling its stone depths. He let the door go, allowing it to shut most of the way and looking back at Tatl.

"Look, maybe she just couldn't come back the way we do. Maybe she's in the forest, right where we played the song. Like the Skull Kid, when he goes back in time. Maybe only me and you can come through the door together, since we were the only ones to walk through the first time."

"I don't...," Link said, shaking his head and not appearing to believe her, growing more delirious by the second.

"What happened?" The fairy turned to find the postman had approached them, lanky and with the same red bag he always had.

Tatl flew to be directly in front of his face. "He got hurt. But that's a long story." She paused, but when he opened his mouth again, Tatl interrupted him. "Oh, did we come in from that door? From where, you ask? Yes, and from another universe." The postman blinked confusedly, clearly taken back. "Does that answer your questions?"

"Tatl...," Link said, the fairy turning to see him looking up at her again. "We have to go check."

"No, no, you have to see the Great Fairy," she said. "We can go check after we've done that. Come on, we have to walk just a little bit further."

"No, Tatl, you don't understand," Link said, the postman looking behind uncertainly, other villagers having gathered to watch as the guards began to approach. "She was real. She wasn't a shadow. She was actually Epona... I could tell. She _remembered_. She was _real_."

_She was real. She wasn't a shadow._

The words were knife wounds in her stomach, but she had to ignore them, because Link's actual wounds would soon kill him if she didn't. She swallowed, trying to fight back her initial reaction to those words. "Link, maybe the Great Fairy will have answers for us, come on."

She tugged at his shoulder, hoping to get him to stand up. Link seemed reluctant though, shaking his head. "No..."

"Link, _come on!_"

"She's broken!" Tatl stopped, backing away when she realized he wasn't talking about Epona. "The Great Fairy. The first Tatl knew about it, but you don't. The Skull Kid scattered her, and we have to get her stray fairy first..." Link trailed off, grasping the wall of the clock tower to stop himself from fainting as he got to his feet. "It's at the Laundry Pool. Under the bridge."

Tatl took a moment to understand what he was saying, but then nodded her head. "I'll... I'll go get it. I'll be right back." She flew away, unsure how much longer she could keep herself composed. She wasn't sure whether it would be out of anger or sadness when she finally did explode. _Real... First Tatl..._

"Is everything okay?"

Link, now on his feet, managed to look directly into the guard's eyes, standing but still as pale and feeble as he'd appeared lying on the ground. "Yes. Everything's fine."

The guard didn't appear to believe him, eyes narrowed at his condition, bandages completely covering his lower torso. "You don't look it. Are you sure you can stand?"

"Yes." Link let go of the wall, standing tall and facing him, but having to muster every drop of physical power he had left not to fall.

"... You should go see the innkeeper. There probably aren't any rooms left, but you could use some help. Don't cause any trouble; this town is protected by the town guard. And... put a shirt on. And pick your stuff off of the ground." The guard then walked away, appearing uncertain as to whether or not he should. Soon after the postman left, the other villagers turned back to what they were doing as well, but they continually threw Link glances, who remained where he stood. It wasn't long before he had to clutch the clock tower wall again, eyes closed as he waited for Tatl and tried to keep his balance.

* * *

"_Ahhhh! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!_" He lifted the pick axe high into the air, bringing it down one final time into the boulder. "_Ahhhh!_" It crumbled, falling apart at his feet, and he grinned widely. The passageway was finally clear. Two days ago, an earthquake had knocked a boulder off of the cliff to the right, wedging it directly in between it and the cliff to the left. The problem was that it had blocked off the only path to Romani Ranch, and, days before the carnival, it was a very inopportune time for that to happen. But he had fixed it, just now breaking apart the boulder enough to clear a path.

The man pushed some of the rocks aside until the dirt road could be visibly cut through again. He smiled, looking up at the sky to see that the sun hadn't even risen yet. The large man slipped the pick axe back onto his belt, heading up the road towards the ranch to inform the sisters running it that they could deliver their milk. He smiled to himself again when he realized how early he'd gotten it done; when the boulder had first fallen, the man had worried that he wouldn't have it cleared in time until the day before the carnival. Which would have proven quite tragic for the bar. Now, a whole three days before, things could come to and fro.

Several minutes later, he found himself still walking on the path towards the ranch, deep in the forest that separated Termina Field from Romani Ranch. It would be a decent walk, the man turning to see the sky revealing that the sun was just about to peak over the horizon. He reasoned he'd be there within the hour, and it wouldn't be quite as unreasonable to show up once dawn had finally arrived.

Then, a horse appeared out of thin air.

The man had been looking straight ahead, minding his own business and indulging in his accomplishment for the day, when an empty spot – where one second there had been nothing – had then been occupied by a horse. It had simply materialized before him.

He stopped, eyes wide as he observed the magic horse that was now on the dirt pathway. Her coat was brown and beautiful, with a white mane; she appeared rather young. The horse had come to exist bent down, as if nuzzling something that was no longer there. The horse, soon after appearing, brought its neck up and looked around slowly, as if just as confused as he was. It made eye contact with the man, who stared back, dumbfounded.

The horse had _appeared_. It had teleported. It had literally come out of no where.

He took a step towards it, and the horse neighed loudly, beginning to gallop away. He watched it run away, not sure what to do in the scenario. Were the woods cursed? Did horses frequently vanish and appear to scare travelers? Or were the horses _invisible_, until they chose not to be?

He began to hurry down the path, watching the horse as it disappeared into the trees. It remained in existence, presumably even after it left his line of vision. It wasn't long after when he came across a second creature. This one, however, was far darker.

It walked out of the trees and onto the path just in front of him. It was a shadow, with bright red eyes. Killer's eyes. It walked past him without throwing him so much as a glance, down the path and back towards Clock Town. The large man watched as it too vanished. Then he ran. Sprinting towards Romani Ranch as fast as his stout legs could carry him, weary of the next dark trick the forest would play on him.

* * *

He limped, dragging one foot after the next towards the cave in North Clock Town. The boy and his fairy passed the small children playing tag, each in blue or red. They stopped their game to stare at him while he slowly walked, Link turning away from them and following the dirt path cutting through the lawn that was the north district. The cave was up against the west wall, still quite a bit away.

He remembered passing the children the first time he had come to see the Great Fairy. At that point, he was still cursed as a Deku scrub. He had yet to learn that Zelda and Navi had died, and had never lost Tatl. Anju had never been murdered by the Skull Kid, and he hadn't learned the truth about Termina. Now he carried an outrageous emotional burden, baggage that had not been there before. The children seemed to recognize that.

The orange fairy, too large to be contained in its ball of light, was flying beside them, looking eagerly at the cave, but worriedly down at Link as their journey continued. "The Great Fairy will be able to heal you, young one. She will reward you greatly."

Link made a small noise that might have been agreement, the three of them continuing their journey. Soon, the grass underneath their feet turned to stone, and the light of the early morning was replaced with the glow of the encased fountain. It was exactly as he remembered. There was a grand stone doorway that lead into a large, shallow pool of water, large pillars surrounding the fountain, all of the stone in the room a bright white. Shimmers of light fell in the distance, surrounding the fountain, except for the pathway Link was on that would lead directly into it.

Twenty or so fairies identical to the one Link and Tatl had with them were floating on top of the pure water. The one beside them didn't say a word as it flew to join them, leaving them behind. The fairies did not converse or greet each other, but merely began to fly around in circles as one, as if the stray fairy had never left the group. The ball they were making in their circular path of flight began to become smaller and denser... denser still... until they were a singular sphere of orange light. The Great Fairy then emerged from that, looking the same as she had last time and laughing merrily. She floated in a relaxed position, as thin and beautiful as he remembered, long orange hair floating behind her.

"The Great Fairy...," Tatl looked up in awe, flying to be closer to her. Link looked at Tatl uncertainly, following her as best as he could, his bandaged feet touching the first of the steps emerged slightly in the water. His feet were bare, his boots, along with his other possessions, having been stowed away underneath the clock tower. It felt amazing, its healing properties already evident; the water was so clear... The Great Fairy was reflected in it, and he looked back at her in her magnificence.

"Oh, Tatl, and you, kind young one. Thank you for returning my broken and shattered body to normal. I am the Great Fairy of Magic. For now, this is all I can offer you. Allow me to ease your weariness as my token of gratitude."

She opened her arms as if to welcome him forward, and Link turned to Tatl, who nodded him on. The boy took a tentative step closer into the water, its soothingness now up to his shin. The Great Fairy straightened herself and backed away from him, cupping her hands in front of her mouth as if to perform a spell, as she had last time.

Link closed his eyes, expecting to be lifted off of his feet, and for the orange light to surround him again. But it didn't. He remained standing in the water for a moment longer, opening his eyes to see that the Great Fairy no longer had her hands cupped. She was looking at him fearfully, having backed away.

Link was confused, the giant, beautiful fairy looking at him like he were some parasite. Before he could speak, Tatl flew down beside him. "Great Fairy, was is it?"

"He can not be healed," she said gravely, shaking her head and not taking her eyes away from his. "Not when he carries the darkness within him."

Tatl turned towards him, Link meeting her eyes as well and only expressing worry. He felt so weak. He didn't know how much longer he could stand there, and he knew that if he left now he would not have anywhere to go. "What... you healed him before! Link told me."

"This is the first time I have laid eyes on him," the Great Fairy said.

"She healed me before the lightning," Link whispered to Tatl, the Great Fairy's expression still gloomy.

"You possess the same darkness the Skull Kid does. And I will not have it defile my fountain, as the dark child tried to do before. Begone!"

Link was taken back, stepping out of the water and onto the step before it, visibly hurt by her words even further. "Great Fairy!" Tatl pleaded. "He's the last person standing in between the Skull Kid and him destroying all of Termina. If you don't heal him now, then he'll die, and the moon will kill all of us- even you!"

"It does not matter. If I try to heal him, the darkness inside of him would corrupt me, and taint this fountain. He would destroy it, and himself. It has a life of its own. And his sadness and desperation gives it power."

"But..."

"I can control it," Link said, ignoring Tatl and taking a step back into the water, now meeting the Great Fairy's eyes with determination. She didn't seem to know how to take this change in attitude, her expression curious. "I've used it to hurt the Skull Kid. He said... he thinks I've tainted the magic. That it's not all darkness."

The Great Fairy remained floating, looking at him curiously. "Step further into the water, young one. I sense you have a good heart, but I must see if what you say is true, before I can heal you." Link nodded, walking down the steps to be more immersed in the fountain. It eventually reached his knees, Link wading through it to be just below the Great Fairy. Tatl remained watching from where she was, thinking the scene quite beautiful. The white pillars surrounding the area were tall and graceful, the water in between them shining with power and purity. The boy stood humbly before the extraordinary fairy floating above him.

The Great Fairy floated down to be just in front of him, face to face. Link looked into her eyes and decided they were the most beautiful ones he'd ever seen. "Close your eyes," she said to him. Link took a deep breath and did just that. The Great Fairy placed one palm on his forehead and one on his chest, closing her eyes as well. Her touch was powerful, Link keeping his eyes shut as he remained below her.

"There is great darkness within you," she said, eyes still closed, hands still there. "But I could feel _that_ when you stepped into my water. What I couldn't feel before was... the light. You have magic in you that is not from that dark skull child. But it is feeble, and has hardly mixed with the darkness. There is conflict within you... within..." She trailed off, opening her eyes and taking the hand off of his forehead, but not the one off of his chest. Link opened his eyes too, looking down to see it was directly over his scar. The one the Skull Kid had left on him. The black mark.

"It will try to corrupt you," she explained, taking her hand off of his chest and backing away, the boy looking up at her pleadingly. "And I don't think the light in you is strong enough to stop it, were I to try and heal you. Your mind is in as dark of a state as your heart. As long as that is the case, it is too dangerous."

"You have to try," Link said, taking a step forward, and the Great Fairy flying a step backward. "I wouldn't ask for your help if I was just worrying about me, but... I have to save Termina. And we all have to take sacrifices to make sure that happens. I think this is your part in fighting this battle. My part is surviving the darkness the Skull Kid put inside of me, and destroying that mask. But I can't do that... until you've done your part.

"We all have to do something to end this– this battle. We can't let him win. I saved you, and I've already done that for a lot of other people here. Now please... I can fight the dark magic in me. I've done it before."

The Great Fairy looked at him as darkly as she had been, her expression not having lightened. "Very well. But I will not be responsible for what happens. When I channel my magic into you, I will be opening the gates for the darkness in you to spread. And unless you can stop it... there will not be a me or a you. And this fountain will be one of darkness."

Link turned downward, swallowing as he looked at his own pale reflection, considering the consequences. He was so weak... so tired... Shikashi couldn't heal him this time, and the Song of Healing had no mask to seal his injuries into. But what if the Great Fairy was right?

Link turned back to face Tatl, who was still floating at the entrance of the fountain worriedly. "It'll be okay, Link," she reassured him. "This is the only way we can do it. The Great Fairy can help you. She's strong enough. I promise."

The voice of reason; the voice of caution. If Tatl was telling him he should do it, then he should. _A phantom. A ghost. Should you ever listen to her?_ Link shook his head, facing the Great Fairy again, still staring down on him.

"I'm ready," he said.

"Very well," the Great Fairy said, putting her hands in front of her mouth and straightening herself to tower above him. "Allow me to ease your weariness as a token of my gratitude."

Link closed his eyes, waiting, and this time, it happened. He was slowly lifted off of his feet, it not long before he was suspended above the beautiful water, droplets of it falling from his legs back into the fountain. He looked up to see a beam of orange light coming from the dark roof, circling around him. He grew dizzy and faint, his mind numb as it overpowered him; he was almost afraid to give into the feeling, worried he might slip away into death before he could be healed.

The injury on his stomach burned, Link opening his mouth to scream, but stopping when he realized it was a good burn. Something was happening there to heal it, the magic at work. He could feel it in his shoulder, too, his arms, his legs... everywhere. He was slowly being healed, energy slowly returning to his body, and the burning felt fantastic, it evidence that it was successful. Tatl watched as Link was suspended in the orange light, it spiraling down and around him as the Great Fairy kept her eyes closed, hands still in front of her.

Then, the burning reached his chest. The only way to explain it was that it felt like a floodgate had opened, and suddenly a different type of burning flilled his body. It was the feeling of satisfaction he had while under the influence of the dark magic, whenever he released dark energy. His mind panicked, and he tried to stop it too late. Once the flooding had begun, it rushed everywhere, overpowering the burning the Great Fairy caused him.

Link thrust his back, his eyes shooting open as he screamed into the air, his eyes now a dark purple. The Great Fairy's eyes opened in response when she realized what was happening, her hands still outstretched and the orange light spiraling around the boy. Link continued to scream, in the dark voice of the mask, his eyes glowing, his body shaking. The orange circling around him began to turn purple, going outwards to spiral up back into the dark ceiling, overpowering the magic of the fairy's.

"_NO!_" the Great Fairy screamed in terror, trying to pull her hands back down but appearing unable to. Tatl looked nervously from Link to the fairy, looking to notice the water beginning to turn black, starting from underneath him and spreading towards the giant fairy. Tatl wasn't sure what she could do, only able to float and watch.

"_Link!_" she screamed, going to fly directly in front of Link's face. She found it hard to do. He still yelled in that terrible voice, and his eyes were not his own. The color in his hair began to fade as well, the blonde giving to white. There was so much hurt and anger in his face... it terrified her... to see him like that... Tatl tried to bat the tears out of her eyes, shaking her head as she screamed at him. "_Link! Snap out of it! Wake up! Come back!_"

He wouldn't, though. The orange lights were now almost entirely purple, the Great Fairy appearing in pain. Then, she looked up in anger at the boy, summoning all of the power she had left to raise her arms up into the air, the Great Fairy closing her eyes and concentrating the magic she had left. Then she thrust her arms outward, the now purple spiral beginning to harden, snaking down from the roof until it had reached Link.

Suddenly, the boy was frozen in place as well, his mouth open in a scream, his eyes still bright. No ice covered him, but the hardening of the magic surrounding him had frozen him in time as well. He remained still, his voice stopping, his feet remaining above the ground. His now white hair stopped floating around madly as well.

In the silence that followed, Tatl looking at Link worriedly, her eyes turning to find the small pool of black water underneath him. It had stopped spreading. Then she spun around to see the Great Fairy, now appearing no longer in pain and floating solemnly in place once again. "_What did you do to him?!_" Tatl exclaimed.

"I stopped him from killing me and himself," she explained.

"_But, he can't move! He's frozen there. He... he's stuck..._"

"I stopped the flow of the magic, and therefore him. If I had not, we would be gone."

"_But... but..._"

"I warned you!" the Great Fairy said, now yelling, towering over Tatl, who cowered back into place. "Until the light in him grows strong enough, I cannot release him. The darkness in him is too strong. There's nothing I can do."

Tatl turned slowly back around to look at Link. He was still several feet off of the ground, suspended in animation between the columns of purple spiraling around him. His head was still craned back, screaming up into the sky in a voice that had been silenced.

* * *

Once the flooding had begun, it rushed to every part of his body, overpowering the burning the Great Fairy caused him. Link thrust his head back, his eyes shooting open as he screamed into the air, his eyes now a dark purple.

Suddenly, Link was no longer in the fountain. He was staring at a flat plain of ashes. It stretched on into the horizon, a wasteland with a dark, stormy sky grumbling above the aftermath. Snowhead and the cave were at his back, and he looked to the outside of Termina with both fear and hunger. It was darkness, in every direction.

And he stared out on it. Alone with his mask. He did so for quite a while, simply standing, with the silence loud in his ears.

It looked exactly like when the moon had fallen. He'd flown back down to touch the ground, and the sadness he had felt at that moment was now distant. He knew that this is what they needed, what was best for the world. The mask had shown him that. Fear was just a natural response to the greatness. It had to be overcome.

Lightning and thunder flashed and grumbled far above, nothing stirring across the desolate plain. _**We must teach him to use the tainted magic. He has something we do not. The light must be used against the boy. **_It was the first time it had spoken in hours.

"That's why I'm bringing him back," the Skull Kid said, speaking to Majora. "I'm bringing him to the ashes. He can learn here."

_**Reach him now. Connect to him, and show him the power that awaits.**_

"He'll be here soon. We don't have to-"

_**Don't be afraid. Enter the ashes. Remember. They soothe you.**_

The imp gulped, taking in the plain before him and shivering. He began to tentatively step towards it, dipping his toes in. Then the rest of his body sank inward, and he could feel the pain, anger, anguish, and despair of the lives lost – the darkness. It soothed him, putting his mind to rest, the Skull Kid closing his eyes and taking it in, as promised.

After a moment of basking in the ashes, he began to concentrate, trying to bring his consciousness through the other host his dark magic was connected to...

Then Link was in two places at once. He was bathing in the ashes, but he was also walking across Termina field. He stopped abruptly in the grass, Clock Town in his peripheral, not having expected the Skull Kid to enter his head. The Skull Kid shifted uneasily in the ashes, not understanding why he was in the wasteland, Termina Field, and the Great Fairy cave.

He felt incredible power coursing through his veins all of a sudden, the sun bright on his dark, shadowy skin, his eyes now purple instead of red. A wagon was passing by, heading from Clock Town towards the mountains. He saw "The Smiths" stitched onto the tarp covering the caravan, and he knew he'd found something to try his newfound power on. The Skull Kid twitched; he could feel the mask's uneasiness.

_**Why is there another? Who is already in our head?!**_

He shot out his hand, and purple flames burst forth. It felt good, as it left him. He liked the newfound power, and he took glee in watching the fire consume the wooden wagon. He enjoyed the screams of the horses.

_**Stop this. Stop it! The boy. How is the boy here?! He can see through us. But I can't see through him.**_

He watched the people burn merrily, destroying the whole family and all of their belongings, the dark magic coursing through his veins and flowing out of him. He wished he could do this forever. That's why he was going back to the caves. Because Master had promised to show him how to tap into the newfound magic whenever he wanted - the mixture of light and dark within him, that the boy had too. And because of its presence within him, he was forever bound to the ocarina and the mask, like the boy, following them through time.

_**CUT IT. CUT IT NOW. WE MUST END THIS. KILL THE BOY WHILE HE'S WITH US.**_

He laughed with glee. He never wanted his eyes to be red again. While they were purple, he could do so much more. But the light. He felt a small burning in his chest. He had to stop. He knew that this was part of what they would teach him. Why he had to go to the cave. He had to learn to suppress the light, so it never overcame him.

The Skull Kid began to concentrate on filtering his consciousness through the third source, and, for the first time, Link began to experience a sense of self again. All he felt in his body was pain and anger, though, and he didn't want to return to that turmoil in his own mind. He knew that if he did, before he calmed down, it would overwhelm him. It would destroy him. He tried to fight it. He tried to stay in the Skull Kid and Dark Link... he had to... if he returned to his own body before it calmed down... he would be consumed... destroyed... this was an escape...

But his body wasn't coming down. It was still a pool of anger and hatred. Why wasn't his body calming down like it usually did?

They lay dead around him. The Smiths. Slain by the dark magic. Though the light had begun to burn within him.

_**END HIM. GET HIM OUT.**_

* * *

Tatl sat solemnly at the edge of the pool. She stared down into the clear water, it so pure and clean. The fountain was still as fantastical as it had been when she'd first entered it, the pillars white and the colors shimmering down from the dark roof. The Great Fairy remained floating in place, over the water a bit a of a distance from her, eyes closed and concentrating.

Link, meanwhile, was still hovering in place. Frozen within the fairy's corrupted magic that encircled him. He looked just as terrifying as he had initially, his eyes still no longer his own. The fairy wondered where he was. Was he unconscious, or was he perpetually seeing through the eyes of the Skull Kid?

The fairy turned towards the exit of the cave, wondering if she'd be able to find some help out there. But she doubted it. The Great Fairy was their only hope, and at the moment, keeping Link frozen in his own fury seemed to be the only solution. Which didn't seem to be much of a solution at the moment.

The last few conversations they'd had replayed in her head. There hadn't been anything too terrible about them, ever since they'd finally been reunited after being apart for so long. But the knowledge the mask salesman had given them had been a buffer ever since then. As if they hadn't quite been able to be the same as before, knowing that they weren't the same. Knowing that she was something lesser than him.

Now, there he was, consumed by the dark magic. He didn't even look like himself. He looked like some dark deity, his power-hungry scream silenced in his magical prison.

"There has to be something we can do," Tatl said, rising up from her spot on the floor, addressing the Great Fairy. "What's the plan right now- to wait until he finally overcomes your spell and kills us?"

"There's nothing we can do," the big fairy explained, not opening her eyes. "He must find the light and overcome the darkness within him."

"But he can't do that alone!" Tatl exclaimed. "There has to be someway we can help him."

The Great Fairy opened her eyes at this, looking down at the smaller fairy below her. Then her eyes turned towards the imprisoned boy. She pondered what the fairy had said for a moment, floating to be closer. "How much do you value this boy's life?"

"I value it more than anything," she answered, only recognizing it to be the truth after she had spoken it. "And I would do anything to help him get back."

The Great Fairy turned over her answer for a moment in her mind, nodding her head. "Very well. There may be something I can do. But we risk your own corruption." Tatl, having expected this, nodded her head uncertainly. "I can connect your consciousness to Link's, and combine your energies. That way, maybe, you will be able to speak to him. To try and calm him. But Link may be gone already. I don't know whose spirit or energies reside in him now. All I know is that there is darkness, and he may be too far away to ever be brought back. It would be the greatest risk, for me to send you after him."

Tatl thought about it more for a moment, looking at what had happened to Link the last time he had taken a risk. Though, she had been the one to finally talk him into it. She had to get him out. Tatl nodded her head. "I'm willing to try."

"Then I wish you good fortune," the Great Fairy said, wondering down closer to them. "Look him in the eyes. Fly to be face to face with him." Tatl cautiously did so, finding the purple orbs hard to look at. She did nonetheless. "Now let yourself go, and bring him back, while I open the channel to you."

The Great Fairy put her hands palm up in front of her face again, and Tatl continued to stare into Link's eyes. Nothing happened, Tatl beginning to wonder if it was working. She opened her mouth to say something, but then it grabbed her all at once. She tried to scream, but then-

She was on a farm that wasn't Romani's ranch, or anywhere that she knew in Termina. The grass was rich and green, the sun warming the air pleasantly. Tatl blinked in the light for a moment, adjusting to see the injured Link she'd last seen suspended in animation. He seemed so weak, pale, and ghost-like. He clashed with the warmness of the world around him, and he was staring at two other people lying in the grass nearby.

One of them looked exactly like Link. In fact, it was Link. Except younger and healthier, a beautiful girl with long blonde hair lying up against him. The older, present day Link seemed merely a ghost, watching the past in mourning.

"Link!" Tatl said, flying up to the shrunken, older Link. He didn't pay her any attention, staring ahead at his younger self, and whom she presumed to be Zelda. "Link, I'm here. You have to wake up."

"_What's the point..._," he responded, his voice hardly a whisper. "_Everyone's dead..._"

"I'm not," Tatl said. "Link, I'm right here."

_**CUT IT. CUT IT NOW. WE MUST END THIS. KILL THE BOY WHILE HE'S WITH US.**_

The voice cut across the fragile existence they had found themselves in, the fairy looking around as if expecting the very fabric of their world to tear open. Link didn't seem to have noticed, or have been phased by it, staring ahead longingly at his lost lover. "Link, we have to go!"

The scene shifted. Link was watching himself mourn over Zelda's dead body, lying motionless in her bed. He was crying in the scene and while watching it, his tears rolling down his pale cheeks. He looked like he was as dead as the princess.

"Link, it's going to be okay. Zelda's gone, but I'm right here. It's going to be okay." She floated towards him, beginning to panic, beginning to feel the darkness growing.

"No, no it's not," he said, his voice shaking, as he watched, the two of them immersed in the past. "You're dead too, Navi."

They were in the forest. The mask salesman was staring into Epona's eyes, the ReDead mask keeping her frozen in place. Link was on top of his horse, looking confused between the masked captor and someone else beside him- a white fairy that looked a lot like her. The mask salesman looked away from the horse towards the shouting fairy, Epona immediately regaining movement and flinging Link off of her back.

The mask salesman stared at the other fairy, her frozen in place. They stared into one another's eyes for what seemed like the longest time, but her neck was forced to twist horribly in the wrong direction before Link even hit the ground.

The mask salesman was now mourning over the death of the fairy he had killed, holding her in his palms as he cried over her, Link watching while lying against a shack. The other Link was watching too from a distance, crying just like the mask salesman. Tatl found herself tearing up too as she tried to get his attention.

"Link, that's not me! That's Navi. I'm Tatl. I'm right here."

_**END HIM. GET HIM OUT**_.

They were underneath the clock tower, and the mask salesman spoke. "These aren't real people, Link. Stop pretending they're something they're not."

It was the night of the final day, the cogs turning and the water swishing below. Tatl could feel the darkness creeping in from everywhere.

"_I love her!_" The other Link cried out, the one watching crying profusely.

"Then your love is misplaced. A shadow doesn't have a heart."

"_Don't listen to him, Link!_" Tatl exclaimed, ignoring the flashback and cutting directly in front of present Link's face. "_Come back to me. Don't let it kill you._"

"But you're just a shadow," Link said, through his tear stained face. The scenes around them faded, and they were now in a chaotic void, colors and scenes passing in a blur all around them. She heard the screams of the dying, and saw blood running.

"No, I'm not," Tatl said, calming herself and trying to ignore the tears falling. Screaming; death. It was a blur all around her that she had to tune out. "It's like you said when we first crawled out of those ashes. There is something worth saving. I... I know that now. I know that because I really care about you, Link, and I know you care about me too. It doesn't matter what I am, what this place really is... all that matters it that I care about you."

Link turned to look at her for the first time since she'd joined him there, appearing so lost. "I don't know what to do anymore. Everyone's gone. I let everyone that I love die. Why am I saving a world that doesn't matter?"

"It does matter, Link. There's something special about this place that we haven't discovered yet... I can feel it. And not everyone's gone." She flew into his shoulder, holding it tightly. "I'm still here. Remember? You saved me in time. Just like you said you would."

The next scene to play was the two of them underneath the trap door in Woodfall temple, cutting through the sounds of the dying. It was mere moments before the battle with Odolwa had taken place. The two had been sitting there waiting for the moon to kill them, knowing there was nothing they could do to escape.

"Well, you know what, Tatl?" Link sad, sitting up against the wall.

"What, Link?"

"I think... I _know_... that I'm glad I'm here with _you_ right now."

Tatl, at first, wasn't sure how to take this. "But what about Hyrule, and Zelda... wouldn't you rather be there?"

"No," Link answered simply, "because I wasn't done in Termina yet. I'd resigned to not leave this place until I'd saved it, even if that meant dying... which obviously it did, and there's no one I'd rather have here with me in this final hour than you."

As Link watched this flashback, he pulled Tatl closer to him, feeling her underneath his palm and realizing something. He _hadn't_ lost everybody. She was right. And still with him.

* * *

Tatl instantly snapped back to the fountain. She stumbled away from Link abruptly, shaking her head to bring her back to reality.

Link's head popped back down and gasped for air, his eyes and hair returning to him and the purple strands of dark magic fading away. He fell into the water below him, soaked as he scrambled to his feet. When the boy stood next, he was dripping wet, looking around himself dazedly. The Great Fairy appeared uncertain as to whether he'd actually returned, and she saw that Tatl was just beside him, wondering the same thing.

"Tatl?" Link finally inquired, his blue eyes shining.

The fairy smiled, running into his shoulder and squeezing it tightly. "_You're back._"

"Of course," Link said, realizing something. He felt incredible, the injuries and fatigue having vanished. The Great Fairy of Magic had healed him. He hugged Tatl tightly, the two then turning to face the beautiful fairy before them.

"It worked!" Link exclaimed, smiling and ecstatic. "I'm... I'm better. You healed me."

The Great Fairy smiled at this, her look of solemnity finally fading. "Your friend went in after you. It was the two of you who did the fighting. The darkness feeds off of our sadness and despair. You must be willing to fight the battle within you before you can fight the one without."

"So... it's done then? I've beaten it?" Link knew this was not the case, however, even as he asked it. He could still feel in it in his chest, the pleasure he received from being in that state fading as it always did.

The Great Fairy didn't even bother to answer his question. "It still grows within you. The evil one with the mask must be stopped. But always keep in mind, young one. There is both light and dark, in that scar of yours. It is not only the Skull Kid's magic who has found itself there."

"Who does the other magic belong to?"

The Great Fairy shook her head. "I do not know. But never forget that it is there."

Link and Tatl turned to face each other again, and the fairy thought that the barrier between them had finally been broken. That maybe things could return to normal. "We should go get your stuff, fairy boy."

Link nodded, beginning to walk up the steps and turning back to face the Great Fairy. "Thank you, for everything. You've helped us get one step closer to defeating the Skull Kid."

"Let us hope," she responded. "Come see me again whenever your quest has made you weary."

* * *

When he emerged from the clock tower the second time that cycle, he was hardly recognizable. His green tunic was adorned, bandages removed, and boots snuggly strapped to his feet. His scabbard was on his back, the weight of his Gilded Sword a welcome one. His bag was over his shoulders, with the few possessions he had left, his ocarina on his belt. The only major items missing were his shield and his hat. The former had been left behind at the ranch, and the later blown away in the chaos of two cycles ago. Regardless, he felt reborn, Tatl flying out behind him.

"Tatl," Link began, looking at the busy townspeople, the sun shining from the middle of the sky, now midday. "I can't begin to explain to you how amazing I feel right now."

"I told you the Great Fairy knew what she was doing." Her and Link exchanged a sideways glance, both smiling at the other.

"I think we're now officially back," the boy said, beginning to walk into the plaza. "And this time, there won't be a mask salesman to take you away from me and make me miserable again."

"Thank goodness," she said. The terrible feelings that had plagued her these last few days almost resurfaced at the mention of the mask salesman. She pushed them away, nonetheless, deciding that she needed to match Link's happiness right now. "He always creeped me out."

"Though before we recommence our giant saving quest, there are a few things I think we should do."

"Like?" Tatl inquired, noticing that he was heading into East Clock Town.

"Buy a shield, for one. And another bow. Then find my horse, and maybe try to help Romani and Cremia."

"Link..."

"Tatl. We owe it to them. And besides, helping people, I feel like, is the main way we've been getting things done and figuring out what to do here."

The fairy sighed, wondering if he was actually right about that, as the boy spoke again. "Then, I'd be willing to head back to the west. If, you think we can handle being on that beach again." He turned to face Tatl, waiting for her response as they walked.

"I don't want to anymore than you, but... best get it out of the way."

* * *

The Skull Kid sat on the edge of the ash now, shaking. Majora had gotten mad, very mad. It scared him when it was mad. The darkness wasn't fun when it was mad.

_**You let him live. You let him escape.**_

"_I tried_," the imp said, stammering. "_I channeled as much into him as I could but... but... he... he got out..._"

_**This is unacceptable. You are unacceptable. If you fail me again, I will let him kill you. And the dark servant you have made me will take your place.**_

The Skull Kid's eyes widened at this, shaking his head slowly.

_**When he comes, you will train him. And you will make him the perfect servant of corruption. Let him use my magic to do what it was made for. Killing.**_

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

EX-MARK: Indeed he did! And I haven't forgotten about that suggestion, but I have had a plan regarding how to handle the Pirates Fortress for a while now. I won't deny any theories or predictions though, so we will see!

SCAG: Thanks! And sort of. The true nature of Termina, as I've mentioned several times before, will be an ongoing theme of this story.

Madi: Haha, I feel like it probably is, hence why I posted it here. The one fantastic thing about that, though, would be having editors, because I feel like I can only catch so much/reword things so many times before I have to submit it. But thank you so much for your compliments! I love writing this a lot, and am glad people like reading it too.

Quill: Yes, poor Link. How unfortunate for him that I was put in charge as the mastermind behind his fictional existence... And Link lost Zelda and couldn't find Tatl, so I feel like those are reasons enough for him to appear so apathetic. But yes! Many mysteries to come. And thank you!

Kitsune (Chapter 2): That line does appear to go a lot deeper than his Deku scrub curse. I suppose what exactly it references is up to one's interpretation! I can't answer that question yet without giving more away, though.

Santiago: Thanks! Yes, I do plan to expand on that. *rubs hands together excitedly*  
And I'm glad you like the personality I've given Dark Link! Not many people have commented on it, but he is quite the heartless killing machine. And haha, thanks again!


	41. They

Note: Happy Holidays to all! Here is my Winter solstice/Christmas/Hanukkah/Yule/Kwanzaa/Malkh/Unknown-secretive-cult-celebration present to you. My apologizes ahead of time that it's not a very festive chapter... *cough*

* * *

_Chapter 41: They_

The sun shone of mid-afternoon when Link stepped out of the South Clock Town gate. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this good starting a journey.

When he had first arrived in Clock Town, he'd been cursed, and had no idea where he was or what was happening. He'd stumbled into Termina field the first time as a Deku scrub, the growing cancer of his scar beginning to cripple him. The second time, he'd just lost Anju and discovered the extent of the corruption tucked away in his scar. The third time, he'd run for the beach, sprinting to save Tatl's life in the final hour. Most recently, he'd been injured in the back of a wagon.

This time he stood tall, with Tatl flying beside him. His short blonde hair no longer had a funnel-shaped green hat over his head, but a brand new shield was over his back. It was the same size as the last one, and much blander; similar markings adorned it as did the face of the clock tower. He'd also purchased another bow, along with twenty-five arrows. It was much less intricate than his previous bow, it lacking the ability to shoot fire arrows. These new items were contained in a new bag. He was fairly positive he'd bought the same exact bag as he had the first time, time travel making this possible.

"That doesn't make any sense though," Tatl said, the two of them continuing their discussion as they stepped into Termina Field. They began to follow the path they'd taken when Cremia had given them a ride. "That can't be the same bag. If you take something out of the loop, it stops it from being regenerated when you play the Song of Time, right?"

"Why would you say that?" Link asked. "I'm pretty sure the bow I stole from under Woodfall is there again. Because in this cycle, I never took it. And won't."

"But what about the ocarina?" the fairy inquired, remembering Link's rendition of the first cycle she had apparently missed. "You stole it from the Skull Kid, and when you went back in time, he didn't have it anymore."

"That's different. I think when he realized he didn't have the ocarina, the memories from the pervious cycle came back to him."

"How is it different?!" Tatl exclaimed. "It's an inanimate object. Like your bag."

"It's a magic inanimate object, though. And the reason we're able to time travel in the first place."

Tatl rolled her eyes. "You can't just use the word 'magic' for an explanation. That's a cop out."

"But it's true. The ocarina is one of those things that can't exist multiple times in these cycles, and isn't effected by the time travel. It's almost like... the rest of the world is going back in time, but they're sort of... anchors, I guess?... that don't change, no matter what."

"Anchors?" The fairy didn't seem to quite grasp this concept, looking off as she thought about it. She flew beside him as they walked, the trail as hard to see as it had been two days from then. "I guess that would make sense. What makes an 'anchor' an anchor, though? The ocarina because it's magic...," she rolled her eyes before she continued, "... but what about other things?"

"I... I don't think it has anything to do with it being magic," Link said, looking up at Tatl now. He remembered what the mask salesman had said. _You, me, and that mask are the only things here that are real. Everything else out there is merely a magic trick!_ He hadn't quite understood what that had meant at the moment, but put into this context, it made perfect sense. "It has to do with the fact that it's not from here. It was brought into Termina."

Despite the fact that he was always physically teleported to the clock tower doors, it was the rest of the world that rewound itself for everything and everyone that wasn't from Termina. It made sense to him why the mask salesman had traveled back with him, and why his ocarina hadn't duplicated itself. The Skull Kid must have remembered simply because the mask gave him the ability to do that, since Majora's Mask could never be left behind either.

But then he remembered Anju telling him that the Skull Kid had come in through the clock tower doors. If that was the case, the Skull Kid should have been able to travel back in time on the very first cycle, without the connection to the ocarina. He wondered if this was a flaw in his theory or a lack of information regarding the Skull Kid's past. Maybe the imp was a shadow, but had managed to survive outside of Termina somehow before returning. Though according to the mask salesman, surviving outside of Termina as a member of this realm was impossible.

The fairy took a moment to grasp what he had said again, looking away slightly dismayed. "Oh. I got it. Another perk of not being a shadow."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know. But all these pluses to not being from here get old pretty quickly. The whole, 'there's something special about this place we haven't discovered yet' is a great idea and all, but until we figure out what that is, or confirm whether it's even true... it's mostly just fluff." Link didn't have anything to say to that, Tatl looking away as she flew to think more. "I guess that means if you, the ocarina, mask, or the mask salesman die or are destroyed... if you're theory is true... then you're gone for good... Though I guess when we're brought back we don't remember anything, so maybe it doesn't make a difference..."

"The mask salesman already died, Tatl," Link said, ignoring everything else she'd said, unable to get past that one phrase. The fairy appeared uneasy at the mention of him, not making eye contact with Link. "I shot him in the chest with lightning, and when I looked over the railing, he wasn't moving." Still, Tatl said nothing. "Is there something you know that I don't?"

"No," Tatl said. "The last time I saw him was when he handed me over to the Skull Kid. But... he did have a lot of powerful masks. You don't think he could have healed himself?"

"Yeah, but the moon would have killed him," Link answered. "If my theory's right and he does come back in time with us, because he's not a shadow, it wouldn't matter, because he would have died when the moon slammed into Clock Town."

"Maybe he has a way of leaving Termina at will."

"How could he possibly do that?"

"I don't know. How could he possibly come here in the first place? Or bring you? Our real memories start when you woke up on the Deku flower, right? Did he drop you down a hole and jump in after you? Or did you just appear there? We really have no idea how he goes between the worlds. So he could have easily used whatever device or spell he uses to do that."

"You almost sound like you want him to be alive. You do remember that he killed Zelda, right? And tried to kill you? And wanted to turn me into a shadow by forcing me to leave you behind, making me an emotionless husk?"

"Being a shadowy emotionless husk must be as awful as it sounds," the fairy commented snidely, interrupting Link before he could apologize. "But I'm just being practical here. I understand he was a terrible person... but if he's still alive, and he still has that ReDead mask – or any of them, really – then he's still someone we have to worry about. And speaking of being practical, and prepared... there's someone else we have to worry about now."

Link remembered the red killer's eyes, and knew who she was talking about. "Dark Link."

"You never gave me a proper explanation for how he came... out of your chest. Because I watched you absorb him through your fancy little black mark there. So, how exactly did the Skull Kid pull him out?"

"... Magic?" Link said, smiling at the fairy's resulting irritation.

"You're hilarious."

"I mean, I don't know how to explain it. He put his hand over my chest and pulled out some of the dark magic inside of me, while you were sitting in that bottle in the trench. I'm assuming Majora's Mask gave him the power to pull it out. But he obviously only pulled out some of it, and it happened to be the bit of it that was Dark Link."

"What stopped him from pulling out all of it?"

"It burned him," Link explained. "Like the Great Fairy said, it's not just Majora's magic that's in my scar. It's mixed with something else that hurts the Skull Kid."

"Do you think that means Dark Link has both of those powers inside of him too? And can travel back in time?"

Link considered her question for a moment. "I think so. The only difference is that he hopes the darkness wins in him, and I need the light to win in me."

"Darkness and light. That reminds me of what the mask salesman told us." Link turned to her, eyebrows raised. "'You can't leave this place before you've chosen between the light and the dark'? You don't remember that?"

"I guess I do," Link said, it coming back to him as soon as she reminded him. "Now that we know what he really wants, though, I don't think he really meant anything by it. Light and dark are pretty broad, vague notions to wrap your head around; I don't think he was referencing anything specific."

Tatl nodded her head. "Probably. But it's definitely very relevant. I would hate for you to lose control and suddenly be a demon type thing. Another Dark Link."

"But we'd love for the light to burn Dark Link away, instead."

"Exactly. Or... turn him into an angel type thing." Link looked to Tatl to see that she was smiling. "Also, on another note, it's about time we finally got you healed."

Link didn't quite understand, turning to look ahead of himself once Tatl did, but still smiling. "You mean so I didn't die?"

"No, I mean like in general," Tatl explained. "You had cuts, burns, and bites all over you. You were starting to look pretty ugly."

Link shook his head, his smile faltering slightly. The scars left from his burns in the poison swamp, bites from the monsters in Woodfall, and multiple scraps, scratches, and bruises along his body had all been healed. Even the long slender cut in his leg had healed, which had been there since the start of his journey; from where, he still didn't know, since the Skull Kid robbing Epona had proven to be a fake memory, but his leg was now free of the mark. The only thing that remained was the large black mark on his chest, in both his human and Deku scrub forms.

"I was seriously about to stop looking at you all together," Tatl explained, shaking her head in feigned disappointment. "I can't be seen talking to ugly people."

"Well, knowing my luck, I'll be ugly again pretty soon. I have a feeling it won't be much longer before I take another nasty fall... or something."

"At least you have some masks in that bag to cover your face once that happens."

Link looked up at Tatl again, eyes bright. "You're not very nice. You know that, right?"

Tatl laughed. "I just have a lot of catching up to do. In my absence, you've missed far too of 'Tatl's sarcasm and insults.' I'm determined to fix that."

* * *

Romani Ranch had never burned to the ground. The small house was perfectly intact, with the barn just beside it. Link heard the cows mooing long before he was near the house, the dirt path snaking through the vastness of the field they owned. The scarce trees scattered throughout had balloons tied to them; Link passed them curiously, he and Tatl noticing their orange shade and the crude, frightening faces painted on them.

When they began to approach the house, Link's eyes immediately searched for the pen at the very front. It was empty. The little girl was running back and forth, her long red hair and dress exactly as he remembered it. However, she seemed an entirely different person. Romani ran to and fro smiling widely, toy bow aimed into the sky with one eye closed. She released the string and watched the imaginary arrow arc high into the air, laughing when a small white dog brushed up against her ankles. She giggled, running to the crate as the dog began chasing her at her heels.

When Romani noticed Link and Tatl approaching, she stopped running, but never lost her smile when she ran up to greet them. The boy hardly recognized this place. On his past visit, it had been empty and devoid of life and hope. Now, it was everywhere.

"Hey, who are you?" she stopped when she was just in front of them, appearing fascinated by the strangers. "I'm Romani. I was given the same name as the ranch. What's your name?"

"Link," he answered, his eyes constantly going back to the empty pen.

She hardly seemed to notice, rambling on. "Link? That's a nice name, but..."

"I can't stand kids," Tatl whispered into Link's ear, rolling her eyes as Romani talked.

"How about... Grasshopper? That's the name Romani gives you."

Link shook his head at this, but the fairy sprung up behind him. "Never mind!" Tatl exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that?! Yes, Tatl agrees with Romani. Deku head is now Grasshopper."

"I'm not Grasshopper," Link began, but he saw by Tatl's smile that he was far too late in stopping it.

"You're the image of a grasshopper," Tatl said smugly. "Always hopping around and chirping."

"See!" Romani said, her smile much more genuine than the fairy's when the girl turned back to Link. "You're wearing green clothes, and you patter about when you walk, so Grasshopper it is!"

Link sighed, pretending to not notice while Tatl glowed from just beside him. "Do you know where Cremia is?"

"Probably in the barn," Romani said, seeming to lose some excitement in response to this question.

"Thanks," Link said, beginning to walk past her, Tatl still smiling.

Before they made it to the door, however, the girl hesitantly spoke again, this time appearing serious. "Romani was practicing... For tonight..." Link stopped. He was instantly brought back to the catatonic girl he'd met last cycle, and he recalled Cremia's story that something was supposed to happen to her tonight. Romani had deliriously mentioned practicing, over and over again. The girl was staring off now, distantly. "Tonight..."

"Practicing?" Link asked, turning from the barn and stepping towards Romani. Tatl's smile faltered, as she too became interested. "What's happening?"

Romani, as soon as Link had approached her, met his eyes, but there was no longer anything childlike about them. "They are coming..."

"... They?" Tatl inquired, gulping. She too remembered how distraught the little girl had been, apparently after 'they' had dealt with her. The image of her stumbling down the road, mysterious lantern in hand and no longer the same, was crystal clear, even though she'd never witnessed it.

"They...," Romani began. "They come at night... every year when the carnival approaches. They come riding in a bright, shining ball. A whole lot of them come down. And then, they come to the barn." She stopped, as if that had been an explanation, the two not quite understanding. She continued regardless, as if not having noticed their puzzled expressions. "My older sister won't believe me... But Romani must protect the cows!"

"They come to take the cows?" Link asked.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Every year."

"Who are they?" Link asked.

"They're ghosts!"

"Ghosts?" Tatl inquired, scoffing. "What would ghosts want with your cows?"

"To get revenge, from the giants!"

Link and Tatl were both taken aback by this. "Where did you hear that?" Link asked.

"From Anju's grandma," Romani explained. "She tells me stories all the time, but this one's real! I know it! The cows have been acting really weird lately, and someone's smashing the bottles. We have to practice..." Romani turned away from them, squeezing one eye shut as she drew the string of her toy bow back. It was aimed at the nearest orange balloon with a monster face, and she released the string. She smiled, imagining that she'd popped it.

The boy and his fairy exchanged a glance, neither of them quite knowing how to take this information. Romani didn't seem to notice, drawing her bow back again as she ran to aim at another balloon. "There's no way that's true," Tatl stated.

"But she did mention the giants. Those are real. And something does happen to her tonight... or it did in the last cycle. And it left her pretty messed up."

"Yeah, everyone knows about the giants though, Link," Tatl explained. "It's a story everyone's heard. And there are a million other stories associated with them, so it's not surprising that one of them happened to be about ghosts stealing cows for some sort of revenge scheme."

"But obviously something's going to happen to her. We can't just leave."

"I'm not saying we should," the fairy said. "I'm just saying that cow-thief giant-hating little-girl-kidnapping ghosts is probably not what we're actually dealing with. She's what- ten? And besides, if these ghosts were stealing cows, how exactly does she end up getting caught up in the mess anyways?"

"Trying to defend them? And I'm not that much older than her."

"Oh, you are," Tatl replied. "You've been through quite a bit for a... however old you are, and plus, we have to take into account the days lost on your time traveling. Which allegedly go all the way back to Hyrule."

Link nodded his head slowly, turning to see that Romani had just run back up to them. "Hey, Grasshopper, I'm recruiting for an assistant right now! You're a boy, won't you try?"

Link hesitated, looking to Tatl to see her smirking, but nodding him on nonetheless. "Sure," he responded. "Anything to help fight... the ghosts."

"Great! Now that's the spirit, Grasshopper! Okay then, I'm going straight into my strategy!"

"Oh Din...," Tatl smirked.

"They'll appear all over the ranch... They'll aim for that barn and approach it slowly, so hit them with arrows so they can't get in! You got that?"

"Yes, I think so," Link said, nodding his head and deciding he wasn't willing to waste too many arrows popping balloons.

"And you mustn't leave the ranch, Grasshopper! Let's practice right away! There are ten ghost-shaped balloons in the ranch, so hurry and burst them all. If you take over two minutes, you're out. The current record is one minute. Are you ready?"

"One minute?" Tatl asked, looking to see how spread out the balloons were over the large field of the ranch. "Who did that in one minute?"

"Me!" Romani exclaimed cheerfully. "From right here." She drew her toy bow and pretended to shoot an arrow in every direction, smiling when she brought it down and looked at the fairy. "See?"

"Yep. Impressive," Tatl said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"But I want you to use a horse, Link," she said, the boy still merely standing there, trying his best to balance his skepticism and desire to help. She began to run towards the ranch, and Link's heart leapt into his throat.

_Epona_. Link exchanged a glance with his fairy to see they were thinking the same thing, and they followed Romani. "Wait right out here!" she called, disappearing into the doors a moment longer.

"Do you really think we brought Epona back with us?" Link asked.

"I don't know," the fairy said. "We'll have to ask her if anything weird has been going on with her... If Epona did come back in time with us, then she should have vanished from her pen and appeared wherever we were in the forest."

"Maybe that is her, and she did disappear," Link reasoned. "They just found her and brought her back."

"Maybe...," Tatl said, though her skepticism was apparent.

When the doors opened, Romani lead out the small horse that had been within. However, it hardly took a minute for Link to realize that it was not his. His smile faded, but he quickly pushed his disappointment away, going to meet Romani in front of the barn. "His name is Stinky," Romani said, petting his nose. "He was born and raised here."

Link feigned a smile, petting the horse's nose. "Is this the only horse you have?"

"No...," Romani said, looking down sadly. "We found another horse wondering around without an owner yesterday, and put her in the pen. She looked lost. But... when we woke up this morning, she was gone. We guess she jumped the fence."

"So she's probably out there?" Link said, his face beaming.

"I guess. But she was hard to put in the pen. She didn't want to go..."

"That's definitely Epona," Link said, still smiling. The Song of Time had worked. She was out there somewhere.

"Epona?"

"My horse. She was stolen from me and brought here... that's actually why I came to Termina in the first place."

"You're from outside of Termina?" Romani inquired, her face stunned. Link nodded his head, his excitement fading when he expected her to be weirded out by the conversation. However, her face suddenly showed just as much excitement as his. "That's amazing! I've always wondered what was outside of Termina." Link smiled to himself, admiring her capacity for curiosity that reminded him of himself. "Is it beautiful?"

"Yes," Link said. "But I can't go home until I've saved this place. And one of those steps is helping you fight the ghosts."

Romani smiled even broader at this. "You're a hero, Grasshopper! I knew it!" She looked at the horse whose reigns she held and then back at Link, her smile turning into a puzzled expression. "Stinky will never do. We need to find your horse." She lead the unfortunately named horse back into the barn, Tatl flying down to be in front of Link.

"You'd better not set her hopes too high..."

"Why not?" Link inquired. "You don't even believe the ghosts are real, so there's nothing to worry about."

"But the moon is real," Tatl said, her expression grave. "And we both know we're not saving Termina from _that_ on this cycle." The next time Link looked around at Romani Ranch, he saw a plain of ashes, and for a moment, all hope left him. But then he saw Romani run back out of the barn happily, and shook his head.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Tatl? We can't go on thinking that way if we're ever going to save anyone." He took a step past her, looking now at the tree line far into the distance.

"Do you want to start looking in the woods?" Romani asked, the young girl stepping up beside him.

"We might not have to," Link began, "if she's close enough." He pulled the ocarina off of his belt.

"What's that?"

"My instrument," he explained. "It's the ocarina that made me a hero." Romani appeared fascinated, obviously ready for a lengthy story, but he put the instrument to his lips and began to play a song.

Tatl at first almost panicked, beginning to rush to his side but stopping when she realized it wasn't the Song of Time. She shook her head at the stupidity of having thought he would just randomly abandon her like that, but it was instinct to assume that every time he took it out, that's what he was doing. The song that did come from his clay instrument sounded much more rustic than the Song of Time, but it was still beautifully played. Both she and Romani listened, and when Link finished, he smiled, putting the ocarina back onto his belt.

"What song was that?" the little girl asked. "It was pretty."

"Epona's Song," Link explained, and it was mere moments later that a thumping of hooves could be heard in the distance, and the boy's smile got even wider.

He ran to greet the horse as she broke the tree line, Romani and Tatl standing behind and neither one of them being able to help but smile. Epona stopped when she was feet from him, neighing as the boy did not stop and threw his arms around her neck. "_Epona,_" he whispered, rubbing her neck and nose, the horse obviously quite content to have been reunited. "I did save you..." He was near laughing, unable to contain his happiness.

"So, you're his fairy, huh?" Romani asked, Tatl being snapped out of her trance staring at the boy and his horse, realizing she was alone with the girl.

"Oh. Uh... I guess," she said. "We're friends, but I'm not 'his' or anything. We're both... on a mission."

"To save Termina?!"

"Yeah," the fairy said smugly. "To save Termina."

"But you can't even fight. What do you do to help him?"

The fairy was suddenly taken back. "What do you mean?! I help in lots of ways! I... I carried his sword, when..." She paused, realizing that the answer was 'running from your burning house.' "... we were running away from a monster."

"So you carry his stuff?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "I also... uh... stopped him from turning into a demon thing!"

"A demon?!" Romani exclaimed, appalled.

"Well, that's not what I meant," she said, beginning to backtrack. "Like... as a figure of speech, you know? He wasn't... actually about to... turn into... a demon." The girl looked at her, confused, clearly not understanding.

"You don't make any sense, fairy," she said, giggling to herself and turning away from Tatl as Link approached them with Epona. Tatl shook her head, but flew to join them.

"Do you, by chance, have a saddle?" Link inquired, still smiling and continuing to pet Epona. "I could ride her without it, but I don't know about shooting arrows."

"Sure!" Romani exclaimed. "Consider it payment for helping me with the ghosts."

* * *

With one last buckle snapped into place, Link took a step back, and his horse once again had a seat upon which he could comfortably ride her. He pet Epona before turning to see Cremia had come out of the house, Romani hardly taking notice she'd stepped outside, remaining with Link and Tatl in front of the barn. "Oh my! Did you find the horse?" Cremia asked, the young adult version of Romani walking to join them.

"Grasshopper did!" Romani exclaimed, beaming at him before turning to face his sister. "He played a song and Epona came right to him!"

"Epona?" Cremia inquired, stopping when she was just before them, her eyes finding the boy and his fairy interestedly.

"It's his!" Cremia, after this exclamation from her younger sister, turned to Link as if for confirmation. He nodded his head.

"She was stolen from me," Link explained. "Romani said you found her wondering the field yesterday."

"We did," Cremia said distantly, her skirt and blouse covered in dirt, having clearly spent most of the day working on the farm. "Did you come from town?"

"Yes," the boy answered. "I haven't been here very long."

"... Then that means...," Cremia began, trailing off when her distance suddenly became excitement. "Milk Road is open to traffic! Good! I can deliver milk to town now!"

"It was blocked?" Link asked, suddenly remembering a portion of the road that had been covered in boulder debris. Upon further reflection, it did look to have been recently cleared.

"Yes! But Brac cleared it up early this morning. It was taking up the road the past couple of days now. But now we'll be able to deliver milk just in time for the carnival!" She turned towards the barn, but not before stopping herself to address the boy again. "Welcome to Romani Ranch, Chateau Romani's Village. I'm glad you found your horse, but now that the road's open again, I have to get straight to work. Enjoy yourself." She passed them and went into the barn, hardly having seemed to notice that Link and Romani were playing some sort of game.

"Are you ready, Grasshopper?" Romani asked, as soon as her sister had gone inside. Link nodded his head, leading Epona away from the ranch a few feet. Tatl flew closely beside him, to whisper in his ear.

"Link, you don't have to do this. I'm pretty sure you don't actually need any more training, and we don't need to waste any arrows."

"No, I want to do this," Link said softly, the fairy just then noticing the small grin on his face. "I've been near death way too many times lately and have felt pretty helpless on more than one occasion. But archery... especially on horseback..." He smiled wider to himself. "... It'll be a much needed break."

Tatl looked at him for a moment longer, eventually deciding to shrug; she floated away to allow him to mount his horse. "Whatever you say, Deku head. Just try not to fall flat on your face."

Link hardly paid attention to the remark, climbing up on his horse and putting his boots into the stirrups on the side. "Are you ready, girl?" he asked Epona, patting her and talking softly into her ear.

"Ready!" Romani called, Tatl flying to watch just beside her. Link sat straight up, taking his bow into one hand and holding onto the horn of the saddle with the other. "Set!" He positioned the quiver to be just near the opening of his bag, and then looked straight ahead. "Go!"

Link kicked his heels into Epona with just enough force, and then she neighed, galloping forward. The boy let the hand holding the horn slip into his quiver as the horse gained speed, putting an arrow back against the string and drawing it towards the nearest balloon. He released, and the orange balloon nearest him exploded, the arrow falling to the ground just behind it. It all happened in one quick, fluid motion, Tatl impressed as she watched.

"He got one already!" Romani exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. "Uh-oh, can't stop counting... three... four... five..."

Link continued galloping onward, already drawing another arrow and destroying yet another balloon within the next few seconds.

"... nine... ten... eleven..."

Link guided Epona to the left with the reigns, heading towards the two balloons anchored on trees near the left edge of the farm. The next time he let go of the saddle and reigns, he took a moment to steady himself before drawing another arrow, holding this one close to his face as his horse bounced up and down. This one traveled through the center of two monstrous faces at the same time, two orange monsters destroyed with one arrow.

"Whoa! … I mean – … nineteen... twenty... twenty-one..."

Tatl couldn't help but smile at Link's talent, he and Epona already rearing to the right to gallop across the field horizontally. The counting right next to her ear, however, was less than pleasurable. _If this little farm girl doesn't shut up in the very near future_... Tatl didn't think she would be counting for much longer, though.

_Pop! Pop!_ Already, the inflatable carnage had claimed two more victims.

Link steered Epona back towards the house, taking out two more balloons in the near vicinity. He turned to head towards the last two, Tatl able to spot the ninth the one but uncertain as to where the tenth laid. "... thirty-one... thirty-two... thirty-three..."

"Hey, where's the last balloon?" Tatl asked, turning around to face the little girl. However, her eyes found the last orange one just behind her, and she turned to see Link barreling right towards them. The arrow was already drawn and pointed in her direction. "_Ah!_" She hardly had time to get the word out before the arrow passed precisely between herself and Romani, the gap hardly existent. The final balloon popped behind them.

The fairy spun around in complete shock, Romani's face quickly turning into a wide smile. "_Thirty-six seconds_!" the girl exclaimed, skipping towards him as Link slid off of his horse, breathing in and out heavily, bow still in hand. Tatl's face was still in twisted in horror, it perpetuated by the fact that Link looked a little too pleased with himself.

"That's great! You two work perfectly together!"

"Yeah, flippin' fantastic!" Tatl exclaimed, interrupting Romani and flying to be just in front of Link's face. "You almost killed us."

"No, I didn't," Link said, unable to stop himself from smiling. "I knew what I was doing."

Tatl was fuming, beginning to open her mouth when the girl stepped in front of her again. "When your arrow hits these, they burst into nothing, but the real ones will keep popping up! If they get in the barn, we lose! They run away at first light of the sun, so we'll have to keep fending them off until then! Did you get that?"

Link nodded, slipping his bow back into his bag and wiping his brow. "The operation starts tonight at two. I'll be waiting in the barn. Don't be late!"

"I won't," Link said, patting his horse as Romani ran back towards the house. The girl stopped before opening the door, however.

"You should come to dinner, Grasshopper!" Romani exclaimed, turning back as she opened the door to her house. "We usually eat at sundown!"

"I would appreciate that!" Link called back, the girl then disappearing into the house. The boy then turned to his fairy, who still appeared quite peeved. "I'm sorry, Tatl. Maybe I did get ahead of myself just a little bit."

"You think?!" the fairy stated. She stopped, though, beginning to calm down when she saw that his face appeared genuine. "I mean... I guess I prefer you getting a little too cocky to you constantly almost dying..."

Link laughed lightly, turning to look with his fairy when the door to the house opened again.

It wasn't Romani who walked out, however. It was a large man, his hand raised up and shielding the sun from his eyes. A pickaxe hung securely from his belt, and he stumbled out, not taking long before he saw Link and his fairy.

He seemed worried, looking at Link fearfully before he went into a full sprint down the path back towards the woods. Link and Tatl exchanged a confused glanced, watching as he disappeared from view.

"You scared him pretty badly, Link," Tatl said sarcastically.

"Do you think that was Brac?"

"Beats me," she said. "I'm just surprised he could actually run that fast."

"Hm," Link said, deciding to dismiss the strange man. He turned to look out at the field, orange balloon bits blowing around. "I should go and see how many arrows survived."

"And then you'll apologize again when you find out you wasted too many?"

Link shook his head. "You should save your snide comments until after you find out you're right, or else I wouldn't have to prove you wrong time and time again."

Tatl scoffed. Minutes later, however, all but two of the arrows had been recovered as still useable, bringing him back to a grand total of twenty-three. The fairy stressed that this was an unacceptable amount of arrows to lose, despite Link's protests that said otherwise.

* * *

Epona's hooves were loud in his ears. The dirt and grass flew up behind her, leaving a trail. The sun shone brilliantly as it had begun to descend, its rays wrapping around the town walls separating Clock Town from Termina field. The wind was powerful in his face, whipping through his hair with thin, sturdy fingers that tousled his blonde hair to and fro. His blue eyes took in the land around him eagerly, leaning forward as his horse's legs continued to propel them forward like a machine.

They passed the trees marking the beginning of the forest that would lead to the farm or the swamp. He passed in front of the beautiful fountains on the pavement outside of the western gate, the ground disappearing into the distance to eventually turn into sand on the other side of the walls. The hooves clomped down on the stone that dropped off at the gorge, the mountains towering in the distance.

And they zipped by the mysterious canyon, the rocky road lined by tall columns and leading into what looked like a barren, clay filled terrain. He noticed two figures riding on horseback out of the entrance to the eastern land, but it was too far to make out anything else about them.

Eventually, the southern lands came into view again, and Link pulled back on the reigns, slowing down Epona until she eventually came to a stop. He remained on her back, smiling as he reached down and pet her soft coat.

He decided that, for a realm of shadows, it was very beautiful and life-like. The wind felt amazing in his face, and the sun was warm on his skin. The sky was stunningly blue, while portions of the grass were a vibrant green. The nostalgia in him had been stirred for the rolling hills of Hyrule Field, and this small expedition had satisfied it slightly.

But all he had to do was turn his head a little in the wrong direction, and the moon would remind him that this was not his home. This land was doomed to die, in this cycle, at least, and that was the feeling that had the greatest presence of all in this realm.

Though he would stop it in a future cycle. Not this one, and most likely not the one after that, but eventually, he would. He hoped.

* * *

When Link opened the door to Romani and Cremia's house, everything was situated exactly as he remembered it, opening onto the kitchen and living area with the staircase in the back. However, there was one thing that caught his attention as soon as he entered the room: his Hylian shield, lying up against the wall. It had the crest and everything exactly as he remembered it, its gray outline filled with blue, red, yellow, and silver markings decorating it. It was battle worn but still completely intact, many fires and weapons having been driven into it. Unmistakably, it was the one he'd left behind in the wagon in the previous cycle.

Link stopped for a moment, stunned and hardly having entered the doorway. Tatl turned to question why he'd stopped when she found the shield for herself, Romani setting the table while Cremia was filling plates and bowls with the dinner. Link and Tatl exchanged a glance to acknowledge they'd both realized the same thing, the fairy shaking her head.

"You can't tell them that's yours, too," Tatl whispered to him. "Or else you'd have to explain everything to them."

Link nodded solemnly. "I guess I'll just have to buy it somehow."

"Or you could just take it," Tatl replied. "Snatch it as you're playing the Song of Time when we're done in this cycle! The new Cremia and Romani will never know, and there'll be no harm done." When she caught the glare from Link, however, she knew this would not be the case and sighed.

"Though this does prove my theory right," Link replied. "About the 'anchors.' The shield's from outside of Termina, so it went back in time with us even though I didn't have it on me."

The fairy shook her head, rolling her eyes and looking away. "Whatever, fairy boy. Don't let a shadow dare challenge the wit and intellect of someone who's _actually_ a pers-"

"Is everything okay?" Link and Tatl both turned to the sound of Cremia's voice, who had pulled out a chair and started to sit down. The boy and his fairy just then became aware of the fact that they were still standing in the doorway whispering.

"Yes, everything's fine," Link said, stepping into the room, Tatl following and wondering, as always, what he would say next. "We just really liked your shield. It reminded us of home."

Cremia watched as they sat down to join them at the table, Romani beginning to break the loaf of bread to put a piece onto her plate. "We found it in the yard when we came outside this morning," she explained, beginning to eat herself. "We have no idea where it came from."

Link and Tatl exchanged another sideways glance, the boy ending it before it arose too much suspicion. "Is it for sell? I bought mine from Clock Town, but I use my shield quite a bit, and that one looks a lot nicer." He paused, watching her and hoping she wouldn't charge him more than the thirty-two rupees he had left. "I'd be willing to give you this one, too. I don't think I could carry more than one.

Cremia thought about it for a bit, smiling slightly after a moment, as if humored by his offer. "You know what, I'll give it to you for free if you ride with me tomorrow night. I'll be delivering my milk into town, and can always use protection. And company." She gave him a small smile, Link almost off-set by the slightly child-like way she spoke to him. "Romani here says you were pretty good with a bow."

"Grasshopper was amazing!" Romani exclaimed. "He popped all of the balloons in thirty-six seconds!"

"That's impressive," Cremia said, only half-mocking. "You should easily be able to scare off any thieves we might run into."

"I'd be more than happy to protect you riding into town," Link said, trying his best to ignore the way she seemed to be speaking to him.

"I'm excited about this year's product. We put the cows to pasture when morning comes. Do you know the Romani breed? My father left them for us. An inheritance from the heavens." Link shook his head, suddenly more interested in his food then the conversation. He heard Romani sigh from her plate at this question from her sister, Tatl merely appearing amused. "The special Romani-bred cows are the source of Chateau Romani, the most desired of forbidden milk!"

Link recalled a couple of cycles ago when he'd visited the milk bar, Latte, late at night. He had drowned himself away into Chateau Romani after having given up hope regarding his adventure, and it had left him completely inebriated. At the time, he'd had no idea what it was, and had been informed by the bartender that it was an old batch not any where close to the quality awaiting them once the Carnival of Time arrived.

"It is a mystical milk that fills you with magic power," Cremia told him, half-smiling and appearing to mock herself as she continued to Link. The boy began to wonder if this was just the way she talked, and hadn't in fact been a slight towards him. "If you seek the dreamy milk of Chateau Romani, please visit Latte, near Clock Town's East Gate." She paused, looking up to see Link and Tatl with an eyebrow raised in confusion; Romani just seemed annoyed. Cremia giggled to herself nonetheless, turning back down to her food as she explained. "How was my sales pitch? I wonder if I said it just like it's written in the brochure."

"That again, sister?" Romani inquired, sighing. "I'm sick of hearing it!"

"I'm supposed to!" Cremia stated. "It work! Work!"

"Oh boy," Tatl said, scoffing as she picked at the small piece of bread lying on her plate. She leaned over to Link now, whispering as softly as she could. "Let's just beat the freakin' ghosts and get the Din out of here."

* * *

Link lead Epona out of the pen in which she'd been kept, his eyes wide in the dark night shrouding the ranch. The air was cool now, but the sky was still clear. Stars shone brightly amidst a dark moon that hung over the town at the center of the realm, face slightly off from being slanted in the ranch's direction. The world seemed crisp and alive, Link leading Epona out further towards the barn.

The Clock Town shield still hung over his back, but his Gilded Sword and bag of possessions were still as they should be, hat still missing. He'd looked at the clock in the kitchen before leaving to see that it was just ten before two, Romani's allotted time for meeting just around the corner. Passing her bedroom, however, he'd decided not to check and see if she was awake, reasoning it would be best for him to fight off the perpetrators on his own. Assuming there were any perpetrators, of course.

"Doesn't look like a ghost invasion is about to happen any time soon," Tatl commented, taking in the life of the night and not feeling any danger.

"Well, something's supposed to happen to Romani tonight that kidnaps her, and then brings her back half-dead," Link reminded his fairy, throwing himself over his horse and riding to stop in front of the barn. He remembered Romani saying he would have to fend them off until sunrise, the boy wondering how he would manage to hold off an invasion for four hours.

"Yeah, but how long are we prepared to wait?" Tatl asked, but the boy didn't respond. "I know the whole, none-of-this-matters-because-once-we-play-the-Song-of-Time-everything-reverts-to-how-it-was card doesn't work on you, but..."

"That's because I've talked to you at length about why that mentality won't get us anywhere," Link said, continuing to look off at the horizon for invaders.

Tatl laughed at that, the boy turning to her confusedly. "Out of context, Deku boy, that made it sound like we're a married couple." Link thought about it for a second and then laughed himself, shaking his head and still looking off.

A moment of silence prevailed after that, only the sounds of the night breaking it. Link continued a dutiful watch while Tatl zoned out, appearing deep in thought and deciding whether or not to say something. Eventually, she spoke.

"Link?"

"Yeah?" Link asked, still not averting his eyes from the forest.

"What was Navi like?" Link was visibly taken aback, turning from the woods to look at Tatl confusedly.

"What?" he asked, still processing what she'd asked.

"Navi, your guardian fairy in Hyrule."

Link paused for a while, trying to decide how exactly to respond to that question. "She was motherly. She was helpful, even though every now and then she would repeat herself a little too much. I was really young then, and she was sort of a guardian figure for me. I loved her, and she – or, I thought – that she loved me."

Tatl thought about it for a moment before responding. "I think she did."

"I don't think she abandoned me out of love," Link retaliated.

"You never know."

"You never knew her," Link explained, shaking his head and turning back to Tatl. "Why do you all of a sudden want to know more about Navi?"

Before she could answer, they were interrupted. A pulsating, high-pitched noise suddenly filled the air, and both Link and Tatl turned to see something flying out of the woods. It was a ball of orange light, no bigger than Link, zipping through the air towards the ranch. Link's eyes went wide, instinctively going towards the bow in his bag, but Epona neighed loudly, rearing back on her hind legs and almost throwing him off as the noise began to grow louder.

Link's hands instead went for the reigns, steadying them as the ball of orange light landed lightly on the ground not far from them. When the orb flew back into the air, something had been left in its place, beginning to materialize. The orange ball began to do this all over the ranch, always zipping to the ground before flying back into the air to dip in another spot, dotting the field with multiple but identical creatures.

The creature had a large, purple head striped black, but it had a grey face. Its body was purple as well, but simply seemed to fade into nothingness where feet should be. Levitating in the air, the specter had eyes that shone long shafts of light outward, causing them to glow with uncanny brightness. Its hands glowed orange, shining just as brilliantly as the lanterns it had for eyes. It began to slowly drift towards the barn, and more were constantly created by the glowing orange ball, until it seemed to have decided enough were spawned, disappearing. The creatures were everywhere, surrounding the barn from all corners, slowly approaching it in the dead of night, and Link had been able to do nothing to prevent their appearance.

Ghosts.

Link steadied Epona, stroking her as she continued to frightfully stir underneath him. The ghosts began to drift towards them, from everywhere, the shrill noise still filling the air. "It's okay, girl," Link whispered to her, taking a deep breath himself as he pulled the bow out of his bag.

"What the-?!" Tatl exclaimed, flying back to be as close to Link as possible. "_Link, what are they?!_" Link didn't have an answer for her, so he didn't respond. He pulled the arrow out of his quiver and brought it back against the string, releasing it in the direction of the closest ghost.

The arrow soared through the air and met its target. The pointed tip passed through the ghost, it vanishing into thin air. The arrow landed on the ground behind it, no trace of the phantom that had just been there left. Link, no one where near close to celebrating such a small victory, drew another arrow and fired it at another ghost. It disappeared too, and Link thrust Epona's reigns forward, the horse galloping on so Link could get a better aim at the others.

Tatl floated dumbfounded just outside of the barn. They were everywhere, dotting the entire landscape of Romani's Ranch. She didn't even know if it was possible to count them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one approaching from behind the house, spinning to see it and noticing that it was far too close to the barn.

"_Link!_" Tatl exclaimed, beginning to fly franticly after him, the ghost behind the house already dangerously close to the cows.

Link didn't hear her, however. He was stampeding through the field, letting one arrow after the next travel through the ghosts. They vanished every time, but there were far more than ten. His archery and horseback skills proved useless. Then, as Link arced back towards the house, a ghost suddenly appeared in front of him, in the exact spot where he'd shot one. Epona reared forward and Link barely managed to stay on his horse, stumbling backwards away from the reappearing ghost. It didn't seem interested in him, continuing onward towards the barn.

Link pushed on despite this, continuing to shoot more and more...

But thirteen ghosts later, there were triple that many still around. And the boy stopped when he noticed that the ones he shot were continuing to reappear. Link looked up at the dark sky; hardly ten minutes had passed. "_No_...," he mouthed.

"_Link!_" The boy turned to see Tatl, flying hastily towards him. "There's a ghost behind the house! It's almost at the barn!"

Link, his small recess now over, turned to see one inches from where the cows were kept. His face was suddenly set in determination, his brow furrowing as he kicked his feet into Epona's sides. He bent down as far as he could, his horse racing against the slowly floating ghost, passing countless others along the way. The wind was sharp in his face, eyes set fiercely on his target. Tatl began to follow from behind, the ghosts still everywhere, the sound loud in their ears.

Link, realizing he wouldn't make it in time and still yards from the ghost, drew his bow and began to prepare another arrow, against his better judgment that it wasn't the proper time to shoot. Epona was going far too fast and hadn't been steadied. He released the arrow nonetheless, letting out his breath as he brought his arm down. Just before he could steady himself on the saddle, however, he was thrown off.

Link landed painfully on the grass, rolling several feet before his momentum was lost. Epona stopped shortly after, the two of them mere feet from the barn. The arrow stuck in the side of the building and missed, the ghost laying its glowing hands on its wooden surface soon after.

The sound suddenly intensified, Link struggling to his feet and backing away from the barn when he saw the glowing orange ball of light had reappeared just above it. The humming was surreal, the ghost that had summoned it flying inside of it. The other ghosts all stopped too, Link noticed, their eyes all staring intently at the orb, beams of light pointing in its direction. The boy stumbled back in horror, watching as a bright shaft of light fell from the orange ball and landed as if it were a spotlight on the barn. The roof exploded, wood sent in every direction.

The cows mooed in protest, but he watched dumbfounded as they began to float up into the air, one by one. The cows flailed their legs uselessly as they rose into the sky, panicking in vain as the barn was suddenly several feet below them. Each cow vanished as soon as it touched the light, captured by whatever vessel the orange ball was that the ghosts controlled.

Link uncertainly drew his bow, aiming it at the orange orb causing the cows to levitate inside of it. Tatl had caught up with him but was looking just as terrified at what was happening. The boy released an arrow, but though it hit the orange light, the sound, the spotlight, and the cow-stealing continued.

He then lowered his bowing arm in defeat, realizing that absolutely nothing could be done. He had lost. Link and Tatl merely stood together watching Romani-bred cows vanish, one by one, the phantoms succeeding. Neighing soon followed after several cows had been taken. The unfortunately named Stinky then rose into the air, finding himself in an even more unfortunate situation.

However, a scream then came from the barn that did not belong to a cow, horse, or a ghost.

Link looked down in confusion from the spotlight and the orange orb, his eyes looking at the door to the barn. The noise had come from behind it, and it was high-pitched, and shrill, belonging to a young girl.

"_No!_" Link exclaimed, sprinting for the barn.

"_Link, wait!_" Tatl yelled, but she knew she couldn't stop him.

Romani floated up out of the barn just like the cows and horse, her arms and legs flying around crazily as she tried to cling onto something. The only thing around her was air, however, her long, red hair a tangled mess, her eyes wide in terror at the orange orb the spotlight was bringing her towards. The toy bow had left her hands, floating along with her up to the top.

Link reached the door to the barn but turned its knob to find it locked. He didn't waste a second as he brought his Gilded Sword on top of it, the door knob falling shattered to the ground. Link picked back up his bow and sheathed his sword, stepping into the barn as he drew an arrow.

The barn was empty, the ceiling open to the nighttime sky, the spotlight flooding the wooden floorboards almost in their entirety. He aimed his arrow at the orange orb from the doorway, careful not to actually step into the light. Romani screamed, mere inches from disappearing, Stinky obliterated the second he touched the orange orb.

Link released the arrow.

It soared through the air and out the hole where the roof had once been. Its tip narrowly missed the little girl and went directly into the underbelly of the orange orb, where the spotlight was coming from. Link lowered his bow, expecting something to happen, but what did happen was not what he expected.

His own feet lifted off of the ground. Though he had been inches from actual stepping into the shaft of light, some invisible force pulled his legs out from under him and caused him to start floating upward, through the hole in the barn.

"_Ahhh!_" Romani screamed, shielding her eyes from the pulsating light. She couldn't stop it, however; as soon as she touched the light, she was gone.

Link spun after her, feeling nauseated as the world around him was a blur. The bow left his fingertips but continued floating with him, the ground becoming further and further below, his mind panicking.

"_No!_" Tatl flew after him, but then stopped herself, only able to watch next to the neighing Epona as he ascended.

Link, in the madness, had his mind present the only solution. His hand reached for his belt and grasped his ocarina. _But Tatl... Tatl..._

It flew from out of his pocket, Link shooting out a hand to catch it, but his fingers barely missed it. It continued rising with him, towards the orange orb desperate to claim them.

The spinning was maddening, Link's eyes beginning to water as the bright orange ball grew closer and closer. He eventually squeezed them shut, screaming now as he hurtled towards it.

Tatl watched in absolute horror as he finally made contact with the light and vanished. The orange ball pulsated for moments longer, and then the spotlight went out. The fairy noticed the ghosts around her vanishing as well, the orb zipping away back to the treeline. The ranch was left in silence again, the nighttime world as crisp and lifelike as it had been before, except now only Tatl and Epona remained.

They had taken him.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Guest: Thanks! And it has been theorized by quite a few people that it is in someway connected to the Fierce Deity Link... And I'm very excited to show you where I intend to go with it! Haha, I also appreciate your comparison to Link 'freezing' to the blue (purple, in his case) screen of death. But I will most certainly not answer that question, regarding Tatl, as you requested. :p

Santiago: Thank you very much! I am glad you like this story so much. As for the Ben Drowned reference... I finally decided to look that up, since more than once person has referenced. And... I honestly don't have words for what I saw/read... BUT, thanks again! I make a point of to ensure every review has been responded to.

SCAG: Yep! And what an interesting question, with an answer that I think is interesting, to be revealed later!

EX-MARK: We will have to see!


	42. Song of Fire

Note: There are a plethora of different directions I could have taken this... obviously... but hopefully you are as satisfied with my decision as I am. I always feel like it's the task of the writer to answer mysteries by making them relevant to the rest of the story being told, so that was my primary concern here. Because, clearly, the game itself gives no indication of what "They" could possibly be about, so it was quite a task. The original clunkiness of this chapter (diction wise) took quite a while to streamline, so I apologize for the delay.

* * *

_Chapter 42: Song of Fire_

The barn was now empty. The roof had blown off and was once again shrouded in darkness. Epona's neighing was the only noise on Romani Ranch; the horse paced around the empty shack as if expecting Link to come out and greet her.

The fairy stared at the spot where the bright light had been, at the spot where the cows, horse, girl, and boy had vanished. The ghosts had left with them, having kidnapped all who'd been in the near vicinity of the barn.

She flew forward tentatively, eventually going through the open door to examine the hollow, wooden building herself. The stables were all empty, and the nighttime sky was now the roof. She stared at the planks worriedly, but, as expected, she found no trace or clue of the phantoms' existence. Tatl flew back out of the barn sadly, looking over to the horse who buzzed her lips in her direction.

"Well what am I supposed to do?!" she exclaimed, in response to Epona. The horse turned away, looking at the tree line now as she buzzed her lips again. "He's not out there! The light thing made him disappear, and now he's going to come back all weird and not normal... if we're lucky."

She thought for a minute though, and remembered how Cremia had said her sister had returned to her from the forest. Tatl also recalled the orange light flying off into a physical direction, rather than just disappearing all together. Her fear was not satiated in the slightest with this lead, but she decided it was better than nothing.

"I guess you're right. We can't just stand around here. Let's go chasing the ghost ball thing." She stopped, turning to see Epona staring at her blankly. "And here I am talking to a horse. I don't know how Link managed to be by himself for almost a whole cycle."

Epona continued to stare at her, eventually looking back at the tree line. "You know what, you're right. Let's go save Link. Maybe." She sighed, beginning to fly off in the direction the ghost's ball had flown, Epona following. "I owe him one. Or several."

* * *

Link's ears were ringing and his vision blurred when he fell out onto the grass. He laid there on his stomach as rough hands grabbed him. He heard the voice of a little girl and the sound of several farm animals, but he also heard the heavy breathing of the person sitting him up. The person – the man – shouted something, and it wasn't long after until he began wrapping something around his body.

When his mind finally began to clear, the first thing he noticed was his own breathing. So he was still alive, for now, and his vision began to settle into place. Before it had fully crystallized, Link found himself unable to move. He tried to raise his arms but something restrained him, the boy looking down to find several layers of rope tied securely around him, tying together his arms and legs. He laid up against a beam of some sort, turning to see Romani in a similar position beside him a little ways in the distance.

They were under a wooden awning, Link's back against one of the poles holding it up. It came out of the side of a rocky cliff, grass underneath them and a nighttime Termina around them. Link lifted his head as his pupils focused, noticing two figures in coats and hoods leading cows into a very large, fenced field. The cows who weren't being herded mooed frantically, confused by what had just happened as they paced around. Link found that the area consisted of several belongings – a fireplace, tents, pitchforks, crates, lanterns, and bags – that made him assume these two figures camped or lived here, next to this field.

A path leading off into a forest began across from where the cows were being herded. Stinky the horse looked around confused, galloping off into trees before he could be captured along with the cows. The two figures didn't seem to notice, struggling quite a bit with tending to the cows. Before Stinky made it out, he passed the bright orange ball that had kidnapped them, it levitating next to a lit fire pit. One of the creatures with lanterns for eyes and glowing hands was floating just beside it, not appearing to care either as the unfortunately named horse made his escape.

Link stared at the ghost fearfully, but it didn't appear to notice him. The phantom stared straight ahead, at the two men. The boy tried to force his way out of the ropes as quietly as possibly, never taking his eyes away from the entity that had taken him. He found it impossible, however; the ropes were too tight, binding him to the pole. When Link's eyes journeyed to the left, just beside him, he found his sword, Clock Town shield, and bag not far away. This didn't make a difference, though, his arms and legs currently restrained and unable to scoot his way in that direction. His hand, which was tied by his side, went to his belt to find his ocarina, but it wasn't there.

Link's mind froze on the memory of himself trying to take it out when the light had been capturing him. It had spun away, out of his reach. Link frantically searched around him, noticing it wasn't with the rest of his belongings. Eventually, he found it. Apparently not having been discovered by anyone else, it was lying by the fire pit, several feet away, its side with the black mark facing him.

He struggled against the ropes for a moment longer, but then gave up, his mind quickly running out of possibilities for escape. He looked to see Romani had begun to stir herself, lifting up her head and moaning. When she opened her eyes, her pupils were dilated, the boy knowing her vision to be as blurred as his had been. For one frightening moment, he thought that she'd been changed, to the dull emotionless girl he'd met earlier. But he hadn't been changed, and therefore he reasoned she hadn't been either.

Eventually, she blinked heavily and looked at the orange ball of light. It was closer to her than it was Link, and her eyes were wide when she found the ghost next to it. Then she saw Link, and the two men behind him herding her cows into a field. When she seemed to have grasped her surroundings, the girl began to fight against her restraints as well. When she gave up, she noticed for the first time that Link seemed to be awake and alert.

"Grasshopper!" Romani shouted.

"_Sh!_" Link exclaimed, turning to see the two men didn't appear to have noticed. They were guiding the antepenultimate cow in, the last two wondering around and continuing to moo. "Don't let them know we're awake yet."

"_What happened?!_" she asked, this time in a more hushed voice, frantic. "The last thing I remember was... floating up. They got me." She looked away, but then back at him, seeming to have just realized something. "... They got you too?!"

Link nodded his head. "They must have brought us somewhere not far from the ranch. I'm pretty sure those are the same woods." He thought for a moment, beginning to observe the odd behavior of the ghost and the ball that had presumably flown them here. They were floating there... staring at the men... as if waiting. Were they doing the men's bidding? Was this some scheme to steal Cremia's cows, using phantoms as the means to do so? Had Link and Romani been accidental captors?

"Romani...," Link began, turning to see the little girl struggling to no avail. She didn't appear to listen, fighting with all her might but not loosening her bindings in the slightest. "Romani..." Still, she didn't listen, panting now as she refused to give in, wasting all of her energy. "_Romani!_" She finally stopped at this sharp whisper, looking over at him with wide eyes shining in the dark. His blue one's shone back at her. "Tell me the story about the ghosts. The one you said Anju's grandmother told you."

"_Link, you have to save us!_" Romani whispered urgently. "_You said you were a hero!_"

"I am, but the first thing I need is your help," Link explained. "Tell me the story, and maybe I can find a clue to save us."

"I don't remember all of it..."

"Then just tell me the parts you do." She didn't seem convinced she could, or maybe was too panicked to honestly try, so she looked off, shaking her head. "Romani, _please_. You told me they wanted revenge on the giants, remember?"

"... Yes," Romani began, nodding her head, still breathing heavily and squirming against the ropes. She began to calm and steady herself as she began thinking about the story, however, her brow furrowed as she remembered. Link looked to see the second to last cow almost having joined the others. "Because the giants had punished them."

"Punished them?" Link inquired, looking at the lone phantom near them and wondering if it was paying them any attention. Or could understand them. "For what?"

"For being thieves and bandits. For killing and stealing." She continued on, still zoned out just enough to where she was no longer thinking about the fear. "The giants ripped their souls out of their hearts and put them in their eyes. So they couldn't feel anymore, but were cursed to see how other people still could... their eyes searching forever for something they could see in other people but could never have again."

Link looked slowly back at the floating ghost... at the eyes staring off at the two men. The shafts of light protruding from them still pierced the night, like searchlights. "... Is that all you remember?" Link asked, when Romani didn't continue. She shook her head, opening her mouth but not saying anything. "Romani?"

"_Shut this one up!_" Link turned at the sound of the gruff voice behind him, but before he could, a handkerchief was stuffed into his mouth and tied behind his head, rough hands forcing his head still. He fought against it but eventually lost, now unable to talk and with the taste of sweat and dirt in his mouth. Romani watched petrified, staring up at the hooded figures.

They were both the same height, one of them lifting Link's bag and spilling its contents out onto the grass. The boy could do nothing as they sifted through them, the ghost continuing to hover in place in the distance. One held Odolwa's mask curiously in his hands, examining it before tossing it back into the ground. The other found the rupees glistening in the grass and pocketed them quickly, while the other one noticed the bow, arrows, ice axes, sword, scabbard, and shield. "This fella sure looks like he was ready for a fight."

The strong country accent caught Link off guard. He paused his struggling, the taste of dirty cloth on his tongue ever-present, as they looked at his belongings with interest. The ocarina still appeared forgotten, by the fire pit behind them.

"What do you think this one does?" One of the men held the Lens of Truth in front of his face, examining it closely and peering through suspiciously. "It doesn't make nothin' bigger."

"I don't know, but these here are the strangest masks I've ever seen." This time, the man was holding the Deku scrub mask, running his fingers across the rough wooden texture. The boy watched as the man walked to be in front of him, facing the opening of his hood towards him and bending down to be face to face. "You didn't get none of these from Ikana, did yah?"

Within his hood, was darkness. Even though a face should be visible, given the lighting, there wasn't one. The rims of his stitched hood merely disappeared into black, except for two balls of light that he assumed to be eyes. They glistened like small stars in the darkness of the hood, appearing almost as unnatural as the ghost's not far behind.

Link didn't respond, staring angrily and threateningly into the terrifying face of his enemy.

"You're... you're the Gorman brothers..."

The man's head instantly snapped in the girl's direction, who'd been, until then, forgotten. Link looked at Romani too, the girl staring up at them rather fearfully. The boy's face went from anger to concern, realizing she didn't understand what she'd just done. He didn't know who the Gorman brothers were, but he knew they wouldn't appreciate the fact that she knew that.

"What'd you just say?" The man with the twinkling eyes straightened himself, beginning to walk himself over to Romani. Link began to try and struggle again, but, once more, nothing loosened. He watched as the other man began to walk and join who allegedly was his brother. Link noticed that, though his hood shrouded his face's features too, it appeared to be a normal face, unlike the other one's. Only one of them had the twinkling eyes amidst darkness.

"I... I just said...," Romani swallowed, squirming uncomfortably as the men surrounded her.

Link tried to say something, tried to scream through his restraints, but nothing came out.

"Well, what the Din do we do now?" The brother that didn't have the twinkling eyes lowered his hood, revealing a harsh face with thick eyebrows, thinning hair, and a handlebar mustache. "They weren't supposed to bring a girl, a boy, and a horse with 'em. And she knows who we are."

"I know," the brother who was still hooded responded. "Which means we can't let 'em go."

"I... I won't tell anyone!" Romani exclaimed, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.. "Please, I promise! If you just let us go!"

"... Well we can't kill 'em...," the unhooded one paused for a moment, turning to face his brother with one caterpillar of an eyebrow raised. "... Can we?" The brother with the twinkling eyes, whom Link assumed to be the older one and the one in charge, turned to look at the ghost behind him.

Link, fearing for what was to come next, strained his body against the ropes with all his might. He flung himself in one direction, and then the other, but the rope only bit into his skin the more he tried. The pole uncomfortably parallel to his back remained as sturdy as ever, holding him in place. Link eyed his sword that lied on the ground not far away at all, empty bag next to it with the rest of his possessions laying about.

The brother with the hood began to slowly approach the phantom, the creature never moving its shafts of light for eyes from his twinkling ones. Soon they were face to face, the ghost floating in place beside the floating orb. "Can you do to the girl... what the giant's did to you...?"

The ghost merely stared into his eyes, not saying anything or appearing to acknowledge he had. Then, without warning, the phantom began to float around the hooded Gorman brother, its eyes now shining upon the girl tied up not far away.

Romani began shaking when she realized the ghost was approaching her. The Gorman brother without the hood backed away as the phantom neared them, not appearing to even want to take a chance to be in its path. Link was helpless to do anything else but watch.

"Please...," Romani began, trying to scoot herself back into the pole as far as she could. The other-worldly being continued to approach, raising a glowing orange hand in her direction as it began to close the last of the space between them.

Its curled fingertips stretched outward, and Romani opened her mouth but had lost all breath. The world around them seemed hushed, as the golden hand reached for her heart.

Unexpectedly, a gasp from the hooded Gorman brother broke the silence. The phantom's hand stopped just short of her chest, Romani's eyes still entranced and staring into the ghost's nonetheless. Link turned to see the second brother's hood had been removed, which seemed to be the cause of his gasp, as well as the ghost stopping. Suddenly, the darkness and the twinkling eyes were gone, revealing a face very similar to his brother's. The hood now hung loosely from the hands of the individual who had removed it; it appeared to have been separate from the rest of the Gorman brother's outfit, unlike the other brother's hood.

Tatl was the culprit, flying out of reach of the Gorman brother who swiped out his arm to get it back from the fairy. "_No!_" he shouted. "_Give it back, give it back! You don't know what you're doing!_"

The ghost, seeming to have now lost interest in the girl, slowly turned around, its eyes once again finding the older brother who no longer donned the hood. Its eyes went from yellow to red, and the younger brother just beside it watched in horror as the glowing ball of light that belonged to it turned red as well.

The younger brother turned to run, but a glowing hand grabbed his shoulder before he could get away. "_No, please... don't!_" It forced him back underneath the awning, in between Link and Romani, his wide eyes fearfully beholding the now red shafts of light peering at him angrily.

They were no longer under the brothers' control.

Tatl hung the hood on a branch out of the Gorman brother's reach. She then flew down to see Link and Romani still tied up, with the ghost having thrown the younger brother up against the wall between them. The older brother was still angrily waving his fists at the fairy who had snuck up behind him. "_You Din forsaken sprite! Get down here so I can..._" He stopped, turning to see what was happening to his brother, his eyes shining when they noticed the ball by the fire had turned red.

"_HELP ME!_" the younger brother screamed. But suddenly he calmed, like Romani had just before him, his eyes staring into the phantom's in a sort of trance. The air around them was still. Then the golden fingers gently raised into the air, before plunging forcefully into his chest. The brother screamed, craning his head back as the ghost remained inside of him, its magic hands having phased through.

"_Ingo!_" the older brother shouted.

Once the ghost brought its hand out of his chest, it brought with it a ball of glowing light. It shone brilliantly in its already shining hand. Then the phantom released Ingo's shoulder, the younger brother exhaling before limply collapsing to the ground. The ghost grabbed the lantern just beside them, shoving the ball of light inside of it and throwing it to the ground next to Ingo, who remained motionless.

Tatl, who had flown behind Link and begun to pull on the ropes restraining him, realized she would be unable to release him. She looked terrified at the now unconscious Ingo, then up to the ghost with the eyes now crimson. It turned to face the boy.

"_I'm gonna get you out of here, Link_," Tatl whispered nervously, her mind racing as the phantom approached. Link continued struggling against the ropes, but to no avail.

The red ball of light then flew swiftly to the left, touching the ground lightly and spawning another ghost. Afterwards, it created a third, and then seemed to rest back next to the fire pit, one ghost near the older brother and the other near Romani. They both began to approach their targets as well, the older brother backing into the crates and other belongings behind him, turning to grab a weapon. His hands found a pitch-fork, before turning quickly back to the enemy before him. He raised the pointed ends of the weapon, but it did not appear to halt the progress of the phantom.

Tatl pulled on the ropes once more as the ghost grabbed Link's shoulder. The boy calmed, and his eyes entered into a trance, suddenly absorbed in the red one's of the attacker. The air in between them was chilled, and still, as it began to raise its other glowing hand. "_No!_" Tatl yelled. She backed away from the pole and turned frantically to look around. She saw his bag, possessions laying just outside of it.

The ghost plunged its hand into Link's chest, who's eyes shot open widely. The red shafts did not leave his blue irises, as the boy's body turned cold. It was then that Tatl placed the Goron mask over Link's face.

The ropes around Link exploded as his back hardened and his stomach expanded, the ghost finding its hand forced out of him, no ball of light in its possession. The pole Link had been tied to was snapped violently in half as Link scrambled to his goron feet, the awning beginning to collapse now that its support had split in two.

Link, still dazed and not having returned to himself, found the wooden roof raining down on top of him and the still fainted Ingo. He was forced back to the ground, the ghost disappearing as soon as the wooden projectiles fell on it. Romani screamed as the awning fell to pieces, but the girl's end managed to hold up, even though the roof had now caved in.

Link didn't take much time to recover, pushing the debris off with his powerful goron arms. Tatl flew to join him again as the goron saw the second ghost had reached Romani. He ran to her rescue, his large goron body thudding heavily on the ground.

The older Gorman brother thrust his pitchfork forward when the ghost reached out for him. The pointed ends traveled straight through it, and then the phantom disappeared. After this had been accomplished, he watched as the glowing orb began to dot the ground again, creating even more phantoms. He saw his brother lying underneath the now destroyed awning, and his eyes widened at the sight of the running goron. He looked to see the sky had begun to brighten, but then tightened his grip on his pitchfork, holding it at the army of ghosts beginning to approach him.

Link punched the ghost just before it grabbed Romani, his powerful fist causing it to vanish. He then ripped the ropes off of the girl and threw her over his shoulder, noticing his bloodied arm from the roof that had fallen, but not currently concerned with his injuries. He turned to see more ghosts were all around them, at least ten more having been created and approaching them. The girl screamed, at the goron holding her and the ghosts surrounding them, the humming noise from earlier returning.

The older Gorman brother swung his pitchfork to the right, cutting through two phantoms, only to bring it back to his side and jab it through a third. They didn't seem halted, however, far too many still surrounding him. He wandered away from them, but stopped once he reached the fire pit, more already on the other side of it. Some of the ghosts had surrounded it, surrounded _him_, the others attacking the goron. He held the pitchfork at the ready, turning around slowly but not sure how much longer he could fend them off, pleading with the sky now that seemed to slowly bring the dawn of the next day.

A horse that wasn't Stinky, the older Gorman Brother noticed, was at the entrance to the camp, seeming to be debating nervously whether it should leave, stay, or try to help. It neighed at the events taking place.

Goron Link punched one of the ghosts, but the task was cumbersome, especially with Romani over his shoulders, and it wouldn't work for much longer. "Link, there are too many!" Tatl exclaimed. He came to the same conclusion moments before, turning to his bag and barreling towards it, his fist traveling through the ghost standing in his way. He placed Romani on the ground, who stumbled backwards, and then removed his mask.

The girl gasped at the transformation. Link attached his scabbard, not pausing to explain anything to the girl. The fairy began to stuff the masks and utensils back into Link's bag, the phantoms coming towards them. "_Grasshopper?!_" Romani exclaimed, backing away from him and the ghosts, tears still welling in her eyes. In moments, the rest of the phantoms would be upon them.

"Stay behind me!" Link exclaimed. The girl hesitantly obeyed, as Link picked up his sword and caused a phantom having neared them to vanish. The Gilded Sword then claimed another victim, Link afterwards finding enough time to put on his shield and bag, once again adorned as he normally was. The ghosts, while easy to fight individually, he realized were impossible to fight as they continued to spawn. No matter how slowly they moved, hundreds of them would manage to catch them no matter how hard they fought.

And there were hundreds. The camp was littered with them, Link, Romani, and Tatl backed into the fence behind which the cows were kept. However, when Link turned for that to be an escape route, he found they were approaching from there as well.

"_Grasshopper_...,"

The shrill noise was loud. Hundreds of golden hands reached out for them from all directions. The sky had barely shed itself of the night. Epona neighed from somewhere in the distance. The older Gorman brother fought savagely, tearing himself through the assailants but never managing to leave the fire pit. Ingo might have been dead underneath the destroyed awning. The shafts of light – their eyes, their lost souls – stared at them hungrily for theirs.

"Link, I know that I was supposed to be the one to save you this time...," Tatl began, swallowing nervously. "But I messed up."

"Don't worry," Link said, exhaling deeply as the last of the space between them and the attackers closed in. He slid his sword back into his scabbard and drew his bow, notching an arrow. "Get ready to run." He pulled an arrow back against the string, and aimed for as long as he could before finally releasing it.

The arrow traveled sharply through the air, cutting through several ghosts, who all vanished. This left a parting in the crowd of phantoms: a momentary path that lead them to the exit of the camp where Epona was.

"_Run!_"

Link, Romani, and Tatl sped through the opening, the ghosts closing in on them, glowing hands reaching out to stop them. One golden hand grabbed Link's shoulder before he made it halfway through, and two others grabbed his arms before he could do anything about it. A third wrapped its illuminated fingers around his throat, and a fourth began to stare into his eyes with its red ones. He saw Romani stopped before she made it as well, screaming when hands began to toss her left and right. Tatl flew out and above the crowd, but was unable to help them, screaming in vain.

The world around Link calmed when he was forced into looking at the red eyes, his wildly speeding heartbeat beginning to calm. He felt chilled, as the hand was raised into the air to plunge into his chest once more.

But, at that moment, they vanished. All of them. The ghosts were suddenly gone, as was the noise and the glowing ball they used as a vehicle. Link and Romani collapsed into the grass, and Tatl seemed confused. She looked up into the sky, though, to see that dawn had just barely broken. The morning had arrived, and with it, came their retreat, as Romani had told them.

They were gone.

Link, now panting, stopped rushing to his feet when he realized it was over, merely content to lie on his back for the moment. He closed his eyes, smiling to himself and sighing when he decided they had won.

"_Link!_"

The boy opened his eyes, surprised at the outburst from Tatl. But he quickly found the older Gorman brother, pitchfork raised over him, eyes wild and angry. Link rolled out of the way, the weapon hitting the grass where he'd been lying. He stowed away his bow and pulled out his sword, just in time to block another attack from the farm equipment.

"_You killed my brother!_" he shrieked loudly, swinging the pitchfork madly. Link redirected the path of the pointed pole again, keeping his footing and backing away. The man stood in between him and the exit, Romani and Tatl having managed to join Epona there, watching nervously at the confrontation taking place. The camp was eerily silent, in the absence of the phantoms; there was now only the clash of steel on steel.

"Romani, run!" the boy shouted, without turning to look at her. The girl did just that, sprinting into the forest, her feet pattering on the grass.

"_You lost me my army!_" He swung his weapon again, Link's blade this time getting caught in the tongs of the pitchfork, his height making this a great disadvantage. "_You ruined everything!_" He tried to violently swing his weapon to the right, hoping to disarm Link. The boy managed to use this power against him, however, redirecting the blow to instead send them stumbling towards the fire pit. Once the Gilded Sword was free, they had switched places. The boy brought his weapon around once more to slice the pointed end off of the Gorman Brother's pitchfork, cutting through the pole. The three-ponged end spiraled off, landing to the side. Link noted the shocked eyes of the Gorman's Brother's, before turning around and running for the exit.

"_Coward!_" the older brother yelled, swinging his pole after him, but it was now much shorter and no longer lethal. He took a step to follow the boy, but then didn't, remaining by the fire and staring angrily at the green-clothed youth who had taken everything.

Link reached the reigns of his horse and went to throw himself over her, but he stopped. "My ocarina..." He turned back to the Gorman Brother, who was now across the camp from him, the fire crackling just beside him. The boy saw his instrument lying in the same spot it had always been, unnoticed.

The Gorman Brother, who had been staring at him hatefully, followed Link's gaze and words to find the blue clay instrument at his feet. He then looked back up at the boy, noting his terrified expression.

Link quickly reached for his bow, but before he could, the man kicked his ocarina into the fire.

The boy's hand twitched, stopping in its pursuit for his bow momentarily, as if he had been shot. His eyes widened in disbelief, and his heart skipped a beat. He then finished drawing his bow and notched an arrow, aiming it at the Gorman Brother standing by the fire.

"_Get away from the fire! Now!_" he yelled, Link's voice laced with anger and panic.

"If you wouldn't kill me then, you won't kill me now over a stupid-"

The arrow sailed through the air and stuck in his shoulder. The older brother screamed, stumbling backwards. "_I said get away from the fire!_" Link had already begun walking towards it, another arrow drawn. The Gorman Brother ran, barreling into the woods and out of sight. Link hardly paid attention, rushing to the fire pit and drawing his sword. He fished his ocarina out, rolling it onto the ground.

Link pushed it around in the grass gently with the end of his boot, for a while, Tatl having flown beside him to see for herself what had become of it. Eventually, Link reached down to pick it up, tentatively touching its warm surface to discover it had cooled down sufficiently. He rolled it in his hands delicately, his eyes finding even more dark spots on it. His instrument had been burnt, and he wondered if the new marks would inhibit its ability to send them through time.

Though none of them were as dark or as ever-present as the one the Skull Kid had cast.

* * *

The following hours of the second day were long and eventful. Link found Romani, and rode her back to Romani Ranch. Cremia confusedly embraced her sobbing younger sister, as the tale of the night before was spun to her.

"We won't be able to tell her everything," Link had told Romani, when she had ridden on Epona with him back to the ranch.

"Why not?" At that moment she had been visibly shaken, staring off into the distance but still very much herself, and able to talk, unlike in the previous cycle.

"Because she won't believe us. We just have to tell her the Gorman Brothers kidnapped us, but that we got away."

Romani had been hesitant at first, but eventually Link had convinced her. Link's next stop had been to Clock Town, where he had gathered enough guards, and then all of them had returned to the scene of the crime. The Gorman Brothers had been no where to be found, Ingo no longer under the debris and his older brother vanished as well. The cows had all still been in the fence, however, and, with the aid of the guards, they were lead back to Romani Ranch.

Stinky was returned to his home as well, Tatl explaining how the horse had been responsible for saving them.

"I followed the ball of light's direction with Epona as far as we could," Tatl had explained, "but we were never able to get very far by that baring. It wasn't until _that_ abomination came running out of the trees that we were able to find the camp."

The hours of the day began to tick away as everything was slowly returned to normal and Link rested, the terrible events of the night before remedied in the day to follow.

Link, as he sat outside of Romani's house watching the sun set, realized that he had done it. For once, he had won, and saved someone's life. He smiled to himself, Tatl floating by his side as Epona nibbled at the hay at her feet.

Romani walked up from behind him, and he turned to see her smiling.

"Dinner's ready, Grasshopper," she said, the boy happy to see her beginning to return to her normal self. He nodded his head, getting to his feet and turning to see she was still standing there, smiling. "You really are a hero, aren't you?"

* * *

The Skull Kid sat in the darkness.

The cave, as always, was devoid of light this far in. But his eyes were accustomed to such darkness, and the imp had been staring at the chalk mural for hours. His eyes, from behind those of Majora's, followed the dark gray lines as they formed the horse, the tsunami, the castle, and the thousands of people dying. _**Do it. And you will see.**_

The Skull Kid swallowed nervously, bringing up his hand and placing it on the dark, cool surface of the cave wall, over the spot where the horse was. He closed his eyes and exhaled, and then opened them to watch as the chalk lines began to move. The lines cut violently across in a myriad of directions, criss-crossing this way and that, the images of Hyrule vanishing as new ones began to form.

The masked imp backed away from the new mural that had begun to reconstruct itself, the dark gray snakes slithering across the black campus and causing the castle to melt away. In its place, came to be the field of ashes, with the moon buried into the ground at its center. The Skull Kid's eyes widened at the plain of desolation, and his mind flashed back to what he had seen for himself when the moon had fallen.

He felt that deep sadness again. The sadness that came with the death of a world, and all of its people. For a brief moment, it was born, returning to him a small flame in his chest. But it was soon snuffed out, when Majora spoke to him again.

_**See? Your land will be purified as well. This wall only shows truth. In the end, my vision for Termina will become a reality.**_

The Skull Kid nodded his head, remembering the feeling of power coursing through his veins when he bathed in the ashes. How could something so pure, flawless, and absolute be anything but perfection? To be strived for?

_**He has returned to us.**_

The imp felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and he slowly turned around, finding a pair of red eyes seeming to float in the darkness. The Skull Kid, noticing that they refused to waver or blink, shivered before continuing. There was something unsettling, about this killer. In its perfection.

"We've been waiting for you," the Skull Kid said. There was no response. "We must teach you to use the power inside of you, and not let it corrupt you. Majora's magic isn't the only magic inside of you, and the other side must not overpower it. You must use the light and dark to your advantage."

No response.

"Follow us to our source of power. We will teach you how to become a creature of the dark who uses the light as his weapon. Because then no one will stand in our way."

The Skull Kid lead the way, and Dark Link followed.

* * *

All was silent, in the wasteland.

The wind hardly stirred, occasionally knocking tufts of ash into the air, but otherwise, it was a silent desert of death. The gray stretched in all directions, as the eternally dark, stormy sky grumbled threateningly. The mountains towered highly, the barrier separating what had been lost from what was left. But they were far in the distance, as was the cave they had come from.

The imp floated in place, arms crossed, and Dark Link stood shin deep into the ashes. The dark being closed its crimson eyes, the Skull Kid watching as it appeared to take a deep breath. When they opened, the red was gone. Replaced with purple.

The shadow then extended its right arm, and rich, violet flames burst forth. They curled and danced with life, collapsing in only to burst forth more vibrantly than before. The shadow then extended its other arm in the opposite direction, and the dance of darkness continued.

The purple flames licked the gray landscape, foaming up into the air as if a dragon bursting from the sea, flying skyward to fully extend its dark wings. The dragon danced gracefully through the air, the purple flames crashing into each other and bellowing forth time and time again, following the motions and rhythm of the dark being commanding them.

It was the conductor, and the dark song flowing from its fingertips chilled the land with its incredible heat. The sound of warmth echoed across the wasteland, as the notes played crackled and exploded with life, amongst the death. As the shadow braced himself for the finale, the fire obeyed. The last explosion was the most brilliant of all, the purple fan extending outward and rushing forth – a dam that had burst.

The Skull Kid watched, the dark fire reflected in Majora's eyes. When it finally ended, the last of the luscious curls fading away into the grayness, the shadow went to stand before its master, eyes once again red.

The imp didn't say anything at first, and neither did Dark Link. The child's eyes were filled with terror as the silence prevailed, hidden behind the wooden surface of the heart-shaped mask. The fear soon subsided, however, as they narrowed into slits.

"Don't forget who you are," the Skull Kid said.

_**Watch your tongue**_.

Majora snapped back almost immediately. Though that voice was in his head, and he knew the shadow couldn't hear it. _At least I'm still more powerful than you in that way._

_**Enough. You forget your place.**_

The Skull Kid exhaled to calm himself, floating down so that his feet were just barely above the plain of ashes. He stared directly into the red eyes that never moved. "You are not the one in power. You come second to m-... second to Majora. And you must remember that."

No response.

"Now go and kill the boy. And burn his ocarina."

The shadow turned around without another word, crossing the plain of desolation to reach the cave leading back to Termina.

"Should we follow him?" the Skull Kid whispered. "Can we trust him?"

_**He is a pawn that will do my bidding without question. As are you.**_

The Skull Kid nodded his head, but his fist remained clenched by his side.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Santiago: It was always a pretty terrifying side-quest... But then again, the whole "three days until the world ends" always terrified me too. There was nothing scarier for me, as a child, than running through Clock Town on the final night. But I'm glad you appreciated the pacing! The story definitely needed a mostly light-hearted chapter... because they're rare, and usually don't last long. As was the case here. But thank you! Hope you liked my take on the ghosts.

Madi: Thanks! I most certainly appreciate that offer. :) Should I ever find my reviews clogged with complaints on my fluency or grammatical accuracy again, I will definitely take you up on that. Because it really is a lot to sift through. But for now, it's probably training I can use, as one studying English in school himself. Thanks again though!

Quill: Thank you! And this chapter answered most (but not all) of those questions, but I assure that the rest of them will come in good time. As you pointed out, a lot of the mysteries will continue to remain just that for the time being! By the way, I may use UHQEUMS instead of HMS to refer to the "happy" mask salesman now, because Unhappy-and-Honestly-Quite-Evil-and-Utilitarian seems much more accurate. :p

MajoraFan423: Um... so the reference is in your 423? 4/23? Are you referring to Canada Book Day, perhaps?


	43. The Western Shore

Note: There was quite a bit of material to put into this chapter, hence the delay; I had to make multiple decisions as to what the groundwork for upcoming chapters would look like. It's definitely a bridge connecting two story arcs, but I believe I've found the most crucial moments in said time frame to highlight in this month's (at least that's the pace I've been going at lately) rendition of... Majora's Mask!

* * *

_Chapter 43: The Western Shore_

The house was quiet. Sunlight and wind came through the open window, the air still moist from the rain of midday. The sun had almost set, and the sounds of Romani and Cremia came into the bedroom, riding along the breeze. Stinky could be heard neighing, and the sisters were continually talking.

The boy sat on the bed, holding his ocarina in his hand. He was fully equipped, with the exception of his long lost hat. Tatl floated beside him, looking at the black marks on the blue clay herself. Link's expression was perplexed, and the fairy's concerned.

"It should be fine," Tatl suggested, watching as Link scratched at the burn marks. The charred quadrants began to flake off, but the scar from the imp's attack responded to no such treatment. "If it can take a blast of lightning from the Skull Kid, than a measly little fire pit shouldn't be able to do much."

"I know," he responded, appearing quite glum.

"Why are you so upset then?" she asked. "We just saved Romani, and you were happy until like... five minutes ago." Link didn't respond at first, merely turning the instrument in his hand. "I know the whole ghost thing was pretty traumatizing, but I mean, compared to everything _else_ we've been through, it's almost like a walk in the park. … That ghost didn't, hurt you, did it? When it reached inside of you?"

"No," Link responded immediately. "It's not that. I felt its fingers close around... whatever it was they took out of Ingo, but they didn't take it out of me. Did you notice they shoved it in a lantern?"

The fairy nodded her head. "Yep. I immediately thought of what Cremia said, last cycle. That Romani had wondered back with a lantern of her own. And that she had to fight her to take it away from her." Link turned back to his ocarina after this, his expression not having changed. "But that's why we should be happy! We saved her! She's not an emotionless husk that doesn't remember anything. That evil Gorman Brother is instead."

"But the other one kicked my ocarina into the fire."

"Yeah, but you shot him and got it back," Tatl reminded him. "And it should work fine."

"We won't know that until I play it again."

"Then play it!"

"No," Link snapped, shaking his head. "Not until I help Cremia. Besides, that's not even why I'm upset. And it wouldn't even make a difference if it doesn't work, whether we know now or later. We'd still end up dying when the moon falls."

Tatl thought about this for moment, and then smiled lightly. "Not if we set fire to that dam again and hide behind the rocks." Link shook his head, clearly not entertained by the sarcasm. "... You... said that wasn't what was making you upset? Then what is?"

He thought about that for a moment, and then looked back at his ocarina. "I wouldn't say I'm upset. I'm just confused." He took in a deep breath, but then couldn't think of what to say, pausing for a moment before continuing. "When he kicked my ocarina into the fire, it hurt me."

"Uh, it hurt me to, Deku head," she replied immediately. "That's our only ticket to surviving the apocalypse."

"No, like, it _hurt_ me. When it landed in the fire." He put his hand over his chest, as if to signify how.

"Like, emotionally?" Tatl asked, confused by the placement of his hand over his heart. She stopped then, however, when she realized what he meant. "The scar?"

He nodded his head slowly, and the fairy took a moment to process that. "Why? Why would that hurt you? That scar is from the Skull Kid."

"But according to the Great Fairy, there was light and dark in me. Not just the magic from the Skull Kid."

Tatl realized what he was trying to imply, but when Link turned to face her, she appeared skeptical. "You think the ocarina's magic is the other half of it?"

"It's probably not half," Link corrected. "Significantly less, but... yes."

"How do you suppose your ocarina managed to work some of its magic into you? By playing the Song of Time too much?"

"No," Link answered. "Because of this." He pointed towards the black mark on it. "We were both struck at the exact same time, remember? The lightning bolt connected the three of us, for that moment. Majora, me, and the ocarina, in the same stream of energy that was burning my chest."

Tatl nodded her head slowly, but still retained the look of confusion. "You're speaking of the ocarina like it's a person."

"That's not what I meant," he said. "What I meant was, that the ocarina clearly has some magic power of its own. So when the Skull Kid's attack traveled through it before traveling through me... I think that combined both of them into one mark. One curse."

"... Light and dark, inside of you?" Link nodded his head, turning the ocarina over some more.

"That would definitely explain everything the Great Fairy said."

"This should be good news though, right?" Tatl inquired. "Why are you so upset?"

"What do you mean?" Link asked, turning to face her with an emotional intensity in his blue eyes. "Wouldn't you be upset if you found out you were constantly bound to things? First, I'm bound to Majora, and have some dark curse in me. Now I'm bound to my ocarina, with some light curse thing. I don't know... I just don't like the idea of being tethered to so many different things. I just- want to be me. I don't want some ridiculous, literal, physical battle between light and dark inside of me. That manifests itself into that terrible thing I turn into."

Tatl immediately knew who he was talking out: the monster he became when his eyes turned purple and his hair turned white, his tunic graying.

"Besides," he continued, "that's only part of what makes me upset. The other thing is – that means Dark Link has some of the ocarina's magic inside of him, too. We already kind of thought he traveled back in time with us, but if I'm right about this, then I'm not sure what else that's going to mean for us. If he's as connected to the ocarina as I am... The ocarina is really the only thing giving us an advantage here. We'd be dead without it. But now that shadow has a direct link to it."

"Yes, but the Skull Kid has already had one for quite a wile now. And he wasn't been able to stop us yet." Link turned to face her, smiling at that. "This Dark Deku head thing won't be any different."

"I certainly hope so," Link said, after pausing for a moment. "Come on, Cremia is probably about ready to leave now."

* * *

Link grasped the glass jar of milk firmly, lifting with his legs as he brought it up into his arms. He loaded it into the edge of the wagon, next to the others, and then he drew the tarp over the opening. "Is that the last one?"

"Yes," Cremia replied, pulling this last buckle tightly on Stinky's reigns.

"Romani's going to take our milk to Clock Town, too!" the younger sister exclaimed, running from the barn with Tatl by her side.

"You're looking after the place!" Cremia responded. "The cows would be all alone otherwise, and after what happened last time..." She then turned to the fairy, floating just beside her. "Are you sure you don't mind staying with her while we're gone?"

"Of course not," the fairy replied dryly, her face stern. "Why would I have had an expectation for tonight other than spending my night babysitting?"

"I'm not a baby!"

"Right," Tatl replied snidely.

"Tatl and I are glad to help out any way we can," Link added in, trying to restrain his smile at the fairy's disappointment. "We definitely appreciate the meals and the room you've been giving us, because those aren't things we always get."

"Well, if it weren't for you, I don't even want to think about what might have happened to my sister," Cremia replied. "You two are always welcome here."

_Until we play the Song of Time and you forget_, Tatl thought to herself. The owner of the ranch climbed to the front of the wagon, and Link went to sit just beside her. "We'll be back late tonight," Cremia told them. "Thanks again, Tatl."

"Anything for the owner of Chateau Romani Village, home to the Romani-bred cows," Tatl replied sarcastically.

"We'll be right back, Tatl," Link reassured her, smiling, as Romani began to lead the unfortunately named horse down the path. "Before you even know it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tatl said, Link no longer in her view once the wagon had turned one hundred and eighty degrees. The wheels rotated and creaked as it made its way towards Clock Town, leaving the ranch behind.

The fairy remained alone with Romani, near the barn as they watched the wagon vanish. The small dog sat next to them as well, panting heavily and wagging its tail excitedly. Tatl looked out of the corner of her eye at the girl and dog standing beside her, and then sighed.

She turned around to face the house. "So, what now? Do I give you a bubble bath? Change your nappy?"

Romani, however, seemed to have been ignoring her, and instead posed a question of her own. "Do you like Grasshopper?"

Tatl, not having expected the question, turned around with her brow furrowed.

"Yeah. Of course. We annoy each other quite a bit, but it's all in good fun. I don't actually hate him or anything."

"No, I mean, _like_ him. Like, _really_ like him?"

"Wait, what?!" The fairy shook her head, meeting Romani's shining, child-like eyes with confused ones. She waited for the girl to say something more, but she didn't, simply staring at Tatl with a smile on her face. "Romani, he's a human. And I'm a fairy. That doesn't – that doesn't make sense. You can't... a human and a fairy can't love each other like that."

"Why not?" Romani asked innocently, her smile beginning to fade.

"Because that's just...," Tatl trailed off, turning away before she found the right word, "... _weird_. That's just weird. People don't do that. Fairies don't do that."

"So you don't like him?" Tatl could hear the disappointment in her voice, the fairy pondering for a moment longer before sighing.

"Not like that," she said. "It's... we're not the same. I... my mind's never even _crossed_ that possibility. People don't... think that way. How could something like that work?" She still hadn't turned to face the girl, staring off at the tree line.

"Have you ever been in love before?" Romani asked.

Tatl was caught off guard by this question as well, her eyes cast at the ground as she thought. "Not that I can remember. It's always been just me and Tael." _But I'm just a shadow._ Could she actually love? What if all of her memories with her brother were illusions? What would happen if someone pushed her far enough to eventually come to turns with her own fragile, disillusioned existence? Would she cease to be? If the lies were cut through deep enough, would there even be a reality left for her to base her existence on? Would she remember being Navi?

_No, stop it. You don't even know if that's true. That's just what the mask salesman said._

"Are you sure?" the farm girl asked, finally looking away from her and walking towards the house. It took Tatl a moment to remember the last thing she'd said, brought out of her thoughts. "I don't know if I believe you."

"Then don't," she said. "See if I care. But fairies and humans can't be together, Romani. They just can't."

* * *

The wagon rolled noisily down the forest path, the trees towering over them on either side. Night had arrived, and the air was cool, blowing through the hair on his bare, blonde head. Stinky pulled them along, Link and Cremia sitting in the front, the sounds of nocturnal Termina filling the woods. The multiple jugs of milk remained in the back of the wagon, secured as the carriage bounced up and down on uneven ground.

"I'm glad you came with me," Cremia eventually said, breaking the silence. The reigns were in her hands, Link sitting on the uncomfortable bench just beside her, his back against the framework of the carriage. "Tonight I'm kind of lonely... I welcome company."

"I know that feeling," Link said. "And I'm glad I could be your company today. How long has it just been you and your sister?"

"I guess it's been a while now since our father died." There was a moment of silence as she thought, her eyes heavy with the past as she looked out at the road. "I'm trying to take care of the ranch, but things have been getting unstable lately. What, with all of our cows being stolen the night before. But even before then, the cows always seemed bothered and frazzled. I've been finding broken bottles everywhere, but I guess we know who's been doing that now. Romani was practicing using her bow because she said she had to stop the 'ghosts'."

Cremia smiled lightly at that, Link feigning a similar expression. "I'm really glad you wondered by when you did," Cremia continued. "I don't know what I would have done without her."

"I'm glad I did too," Link said.

Silence prevailed again, Cremia's head eventually leaving the road to look up at the sky. When she didn't look back down for a while, Link turned to see that she was staring transfixed at the moon. Her expression was a mixture of uncertainty and fear. When she noticed Link was looking at her, she looked back at the road, pushing the fear aside.

"Say, what are the townsfolk saying about that moon?" she asked. "It's bigger than before, isn't it?"

"I don't know," he answered. "The town was emptier than it was the day I got here when I went to get the guards. I think people are starting to leave."

"In town, I have a friend. Her name's Anju." _Anju_. Link had gotten to know her on multiple occasions on multiple cycles, but never as close as he had the cycle the imp had slain her. He knew she would be heading to the ranch the next night. Though he wondered if his interference with Romani's Ranch would change that date slightly.

"Anju," she repeated. "The day after tomorrow is her wedding." She paused, however, her expression grave. "At least, it was supposed to be."

"Does anybody know what happened to Kafei?" Link asked, remembering his promise to Anju, as she'd lain on the ground dying. He realized that, as much as he knew about the innkeeper, he knew hardly anything about her lover. Other than the fact that he was the mayor's son and writes her a letter on the first day.

"You know Kafei?" Cremia inquired.

"No," Link began, suddenly realizing he shouldn't have known what Kafei's name was in this cycle. "I just heard rumors when I passed through town. About Anju and Kafei. And I visited the inn before coming here."

The owner of the ranch seemed skeptical of his lie, but eventually dismissed it, turning back to the road. "No one knows what happened to him." Her response was laced with disdain. "He just left her."

Link wasn't sure what to add to that.

Cremia looked back up at the moon, the fear making a brief appearance again. "I wonder if it will fall... that thing?"

"I don't know," Link lied.

* * *

The wheels finally came to a stop at the South Clock Town gate. Link stepped down from the wagon and helped Cremia to the grass herself. "Thank you," Cremia said.

"Of course," he responded.

"Thank you for _everything_. For saving Romani, the cows, and bringing the guards to help, and riding with me to town – "

"Don't worry about it," Link interrupted. "I'm glad I could help. It's what I do."

She nodded, smiling as she turned from him to walk to the back of the wagon. "Mr. Barten will be happy to get his first delivery in quite a while." Link followed her, as the owner of the Ranch fished for something in the back of the caravan.

When she came back out, she had something in her hands that wasn't milk. "This isn't very big, but accept my thanks." She held a mask. It was a cow mask, with the pink snout, monochromatic skin, and everything. "This mask is only given to a limited number of adult customers. It's proof of membership. You can get a discount on milk whenever you bring this with you."

"Are you sure?" Link asked, taking the cow mask into his hands.

"It's not the only Romani mask, and you've definitely earned it. Please, take it. And you can have your shield back too when we return to the ranch."

"I appreciate that," Link responded, slipping the Romani mask into his bag, to bring the grand total up to five. Cremia smiled, throwing up the tarp covering the opening to the wagon.

"I'll grab a jar, and go ahead and bring it when we go get Mr. Barten," Link suggested, grabbing the first jug of milk and sliding it into his arms. It was rather heavy, and he suddenly wished he could turn into a goron to make the process easier.

"Sounds good."

The two of them passed through the gate, the guard allowing them entrance as they made their way towards East Clock Town. The guard left to stay beside the wagon, watching it as they made their delivery. The town already was practically deserted, Link only finding two patrons in the bar when they finally made it there. Mr. Barten seemed quite excited, Link and Cremia exiting to return to the wagon after the first delivery.

However, before they'd hardly stepped out of the bar, the innkeeper could be seen. Anju had just opened the door to the Stock Pot Inn, peering out and spotting the two of them. "Cremia?"

"Anju!" the ranch owner exclaimed. The two of them met halfway, embracing one another tightly. Link remained just behind them, smiling at Anju himself. Though, it didn't take long for the first glance from her to remind him she had no idea who he was.

"You managed to get the milk ready in time for the carnival after all?" Anju inquired.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "All thanks to this kid."

"So this is the hero?" the innkeeper asked, looking down. His arrival into town earlier that day had caused quite the commotion, as he had come and left with several guards. Word of his efforts in Romani Ranch had spread, despite the fact that few remained within its walls now.

Cremia nodded. "Link, this is Anju," the ranch owner introduced him.

"Hi Anju," Link greeted, trying his best to smile, but finding it hard to. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to... meet you, too..." She trailed off, however, suddenly looking at him oddly. The boy took a moment to notice, his heart leaping into his chest. _Does she remember?_ He didn't say anything, afraid to press the matter, merely showing how perplexed he was by her continuing to stare at him, having trailed off.

Cremia was the next one to speak, when she noticed the innkeeper's odd behavior. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Anju eventually said, shaking her head. "I just... could you come inside for a moment? My mom and I were actually wondering if we could work out coming down to the ranch a day earlier."

"Sure," Cremia answered, turning to Link. "Do you mind? We'll just take a second."

"No, that's fine," Link said, forcing himself to push aside his curiosity. "I'll go grab another jar." He then waved at them as he went to cross the plaza.

Cremia and Anju then went to the Stock Pot Inn, crossing the doorframe from the cool night into the warm lobby.

"What was that about?" Cremia asked. "Do you know him from somewhere?" Anju didn't answer immediately, holding her hands nervously as Cremia continued. "It did seem a little odd when he told me he already knew who Kafei was."

"What?" Anju asked, looking up. "No, I've never met him before. It's nothing like that. It's just... this is going to sound really odd." Anju laughed nervously, looking off, as if not sure how to begin.

"What?" Cremia inquired.

"Last night, a visitor came by the inn," the innkeeper said. "I don't have any idea who he was, but he seemed really desperate. Hurt, almost. And I wanted to trust him. He sounded sincere."

Cremia was confused, her face clearly showing it as the two of them went to walk upstairs. "What did he say?"

"He asked me to deliver something for him. A package. To a specific person. But he didn't give me the person's name. At first, I thought that boy might have been the person he was describing. But it couldn't have been."

"Why not?"

"Because he wasn't wearing a green, funnel shaped hat," Anju explained. "The man told me to give it to a boy with a hat like that, whenever he might pass through. And when I first saw him, I saw his green tunic... He wasn't ever wearing a hat at any point you knew him, was he?"

"No," Cremia said, still appearing confused as they entered Anju's room. "But do you still have the package? It could be his."

"No, I don't," Anju responded. "That's the thing. The inn was robbed." Cremia turned to her, shocked, as the both of them sat down on her bed.

"When?"

"When the guards were all being gathered to go to your ranch. I went out to see what was going on, and while I was... Someone stole our money, our keys, that package... All of it." She began to tear up, Cremia putting an arm around the innkeeper.

"It's fine, it's going to be okay," Cremia said, Anju nodding her head and wiping her eyes. "You can come to the ranch tonight, and bring your grandmother and mom. It looks like a bunch of other people are taking shelter already anyways."

Anju nodded again, smiling weakly back at her friend. "Thanks."

The two sat there for a moment, staring off, until Cremia spoke next. "That is all really odd, though. A stranger leaves a package, and then someone steals it the next day. Did you ever seen what was inside of it?"

"No," Anju replied, putting her head into her hands. "It was light, though. And I wasn't the only one robbed when the guards came. A bunch of other people were, too. It was that thief, that everyone's always talking about." Cremia hunched her shoulders at her mention of him, looking down sadly. "He struck again."

Cremia thought about it for a moment longer. "Do you remember what the man who gave you the package looked like?"

"No," Anju answered. "He wore a black cloak, and kept his face covered."

* * *

"Tael. Stop. We don't know what's over there."

"Yes we do!" Tael exclaimed. "The gorons! We have to hurry before they leave."

"Tael, that's stupid. What do we want from the gorons?"

"It's just something to do," her brother explained. "We haven't been over here in a while."

They flew over the mountains, towards where she knew the village would be. The ground was thousands of feet below them.

"Tatl. Why are you following your brother?"

It was the Skull Kid. Tatl spun around, and there he was, staring at her with Majora's evil eyes. "I need to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"_**I think you're too late.**_"

The fairy spun around, halfway to heed his warning and halfway to no longer have took at him... when he was speaking so darkly. She saw her brother, groveling in ashes, the village destroyed. He held a knife in his hand, and was raising it to his throat, screaming and crying.

"_Tael!_" Tatl exclaimed, flying towards him quickly, passing over the toppled huts and goron corpses, one dead hand curled out of the black field just beside her. "_Tael, no! Stop!_"

"_PLEASE! NO!_" Tael screamed, already pushing the blade up against his throat. He'd lost his mind, screaming and kicking in the debris as his eyes pleaded with the sky. Tatl tried to reach him, calling out his name, but the space between them only grew as she continued to fly. "_I JUST WANT IT TO STOP! MAKE IT STOP!_"

Then, Tatl reached him. But Tael was already beginning to calm down, choking now as his arm fell limply beside him. Blood spilt out from his neck and onto the black canvas, the knife still in his hand and shining. "_Tael! Tael!_" She grabbed his shoulders, trying to shake him awake, her fingers covered in blood now.

His head lolled to side, eyes refusing to meet hers as he gave out one final choke.

"_No! Tael!_"

"_**I told you. You were too late.**_"

Tatl, now crying herself, turned expecting to see the Skull Kid. But it was Link. His eyes were glowing purple, his tunic grey and his hair white. "_**And now you will join him**_." Link raised his hand and faced his palm in her direction. Violet flames burst forth and rushed towards her.

"_No!_"

She awoke to Link standing over, looking worried.

"Tatl..."

She was panting, sweat breaking out over her forehead as she flew away from him swiftly. Her back slammed against the wall, having risen from the bed just underneath her. The bedroom was dark, starlight coming in from the shut window, the barn visible outside.

Tatl looked around in complete panic, still breathing heavily as she took in her surroundings.

"Tatl, what's wrong?" Link asked, appearing genuinely concerned as he took a step back from the bed. He appeared to have just entered the room, returning from his journey with Cremia not but moments ago.

"_I... I... I don't..._" She looked around, confused, crying now even as she began to calm down. Eventually, she brought herself to look at Link's eyes. They never wavered from her, staring at her worriedly. They shone, in their blue hue.

She flew up to his shoulder, flying into it and grasping it tightly. Link gently put a hand over her, turning to sit down on the bed and continue to hold her, as she sniffled.

"_You won't ever leave me, right? You promise?_"

"No. Of course not," Link said, his hand still tenderly over her as she grasped him tightly.

She wanted to believe him. But the words of the mask salesman, and the eyes of that dark killer he sometimes became, resonated in her head.

They sat there together in silence, for quite a while, until Tatl spoke again. "Link?"

"Yeah?"

She paused, her mind rambling as she remained hugging him. She tried to find some word to express what she wanted to say, but she couldn't. It escaped her. Whatever complex emotion, question, or thought she'd wanted to express, could not be put into words. She opened her mouth, but she wavered, eventually closing it again. "Thank you."

Link didn't respond, merely tightening his grip on her for the briefest of moments, to acknowledge what she'd said.

* * *

Link and Tatl, upon waking the next morning, had decided that there wasn't enough time left in the cycle to do anything else productive. So they asked Cremia if they could stay with her one more day, and she'd happily obliged. Anju, in addition to her mother and grandmother, were also there, so the house ended up being rather full.

The boy spent most of the day riding around the farm on the back of Epona. The moon always seemed to be in his vision, no matter where he was, growing closer and closer to Clock Town as the final day progressed. He would press on regardless, allowing the sound of Epona's hooves constantly going up and down upon the grass to comfort him.

Tatl remained deep in thought the majority of the day. She idly watched as Link rode around Romani's Ranch. He seemed intent on what he was doing, but Tatl was hardly paying attention as she watched. Words continued to buzz through her head, and she was filtering through all of them to try and find something she might have missed. Some sort of answer or comfort, to everything, but nothing in particular. For at that moment, she didn't seem to have any.

The fear in Cremia's face continued to grow more and more as the day progressed, every time she would look up at the moon. The rock appeared to be growing, and with each inch it descended, the flame of hope within her began to die further and further. Days ago, she'd seemed to be able to dismiss the giant rock, deciding that it would eventually blow over, and become some mystery no one would ever quite understand. Now, it didn't seem to be that way. Now, it seemed that it would crush them all, no matter how much attention they gave to it. Cremia, more and more, became terrified of the eminent death that seemed to await them.

"Cremia!" The owner of the ranch snapped out of her trance, looking down to see her little sister smiling broadly. "Lucky says he wants to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow too." She laughed when the small dog she had referenced brushed against her ankles. "Can we go to town to get one when the carnival starts tomorrow?"

Cremia nodded her head, giving her sister a small smile. "Of course."

The earthquakes had begun almost as soon as the day had started. By nightfall, the rate at which they were occurring had become terrifying. After dinner Link had begun to climb the stairs to the bedroom, the resulting quake almost toppling him down back into the kitchen. He bid Anju and her family farewell, before leaving the house to go to the barn, where he knew Cremia and Romani were.

The sky had the familiar red hue, the moon now blotting out much of the sky. The world was still, as if in preparation. Epona neighed at Link as soon as he walked out of the building, standing in her pin. He pet her nose, calming her.

"It's okay, Epona," he whispered to her. "We'll be leaving in a minute."

He then exchanged a glance with Tatl, who was floating just beside him. The two of them began walking towards the barn, Link's head still bare of any hat but his back once again adorned with his Hylian shield.

He pushed the door to the barn open, stepping inside slowly.

The cows mooed at his entrance, the barn roof still gone and open to the nighttime sky. Cremia sat on a crate next to one of the cows, who was standing there outside of its pin. Romani stood next to her sister, smiling broadly.

"Oh... good evening," Cremia said weakly, greeting him. She seemed distant, her face distracted. Her eyes seemed hollowed, the skin underneath them dark and almost in mourning.

"Grasshopper!" Romani exclaimed, spinning around to look at Link happily. Her face was nothing but bliss, her young eyes shining and her red hair brilliant. "We're milking the cows tonight! It's 'Chateau Romani.' It's the first time I get to drink it."

"Really?" Link asked, stepping more fully into the barn. Tatl flew just beside him, looking just as sad as he did.

Romani nodded her head enthusiastically. "Until now, my sister always said, 'Wait until you're an adult.' But..." She stopped, her face growing confused slightly, as she turned to face her sister. "... why now?"

Despite the change in tone, the happiness never left her voice. It was still filled with the youth and boundless curiosity it always had.

Cremia thought for a moment, looking at her sister's shining eyes as they waited for an answer. "... You've become an adult now, Romani. I see it in you. I'm acknowledging it." Cremia seemed to believe every word sincerely.

"Then, does Romani get a mask, too?" she lifted on her toes slightly at this, her smile returning.

Cremia laughed lightly, the ghost of a smile creeping on her face. "Well, yes, I'll make one for you." She paused, the smile fading as quickly as it had come.

Romani then, quite unexpectedly, walked up to her sister and embraced her tightly. "I love you, Cremia," her little sister said, lying her head on her big sister's shoulder. Cremia was surprised at first, but then rested her head down, too. Cremia closed her eyes tightly and exhaled shakily.

"Sleep with me in my bed tonight. Okay, Romani?"

"Yes, sister," Romani answered.

Link still stood in the barn, looking down at them. When Cremia opened her eyes again, still hugging Romani, they found his. The grief that filled her watery, brown eyes was all she was able to express.

Link nodded his head, turning to leave the barn without another word, Tatl following him.

The older sister remained in the barn holding the younger one. The ground shook violently once more, the barn creaking at its base. Cremia closed her eyes again, holding Romani even tighter.

* * *

Link brought his hand up to shield his eyes from the light of the first day. Eventually, they adjusted, and Link was once again in a Termina that had reset itself. He looked at the hurrying townspeople blankly, and then at the fairy who had joined him. Tatl gave him a sympathetic look, but knew there was nothing new she could say.

Link, almost as if due to a force of habit, opened the clock tower doors and peered inside. No one was there. The cogs turned, and the sound of the wooden machinery creakily bounced all across the empty room. Link allowed the doors to close behind him, and then looked back at Tatl.

"Do you think Epona's out there?" he asked, the fairy noting the nerves in his voice.

Tatl shrugged. "There's only one way to find out."

Link crossed the South Clock Town plaza to the gate, and after a small confrontation with the guard, he passed through the stone passageway only to be at the helm of Termina Field once again. Epona stood just near the gate, in the exact spot he'd played the Song of Time. She neighed in delight at his returned, and Link smiled, running up to her and hugging her neck.

"It worked," he said. Finally, he had been able to keep one of his promises: keeping his horse safe. He had Epona were officially reunited, and for once, a life had been saved rather than lost.

Tatl smiled, content to know that each of these small victories would be enough to keep them going. "Are you ready?" Link asked, looking up from his horse to see Tatl, still floating in the gateway to Clock Town.

"I think so. Are you all stocked up on everything you need?"

"Yes," Link answered. "Last cycle, I got the silver rupee from the Knife Chamber again and bought some arrows, food, and water while I was in town. I think that's about everything, right?"

"Seem like it," Tatl replied. "I guess now... that means it's time for part three."

Link smiled. "You missed out on the last temple, so I'd be pretty excited if I were you."

The fairy rolled her eyes, scoffing and flying up beside him. "With any luck, there won't _be_ another temple. Maybe this giant's captor will be chilling on the beach, and we won't even have to do anything other than kill it."

"Right," Link said skeptically, climbing onto his horse. "The west it is, then?"

Tatl nodded her head. "Yep. As much as I never want to go to that beach again... I'm all for getting Great Bay done with."

"Well then," Link began, turning Epona's reigns to face to the right. "Let's get started. We're burning daylight." He kicked his heels into his horse, and then they were off. Epona galloped across Termina field, and Tatl followed.

The horse's legs came down on grass that eventually turned to stone, as they passed between two ornate fountains just outside the western gate. He slowed Epona down as they approached the staircase leading off of the stone patio, into the grassy land below. The horse walked steadily down, Link making sure to keep his and her balance. Eventually, they reached the bottom, at which point they began to pick up speed again.

There were two dark rock walls up ahead that blocked any further progression, except for a skinny passage in between them, cutting through the rock and snaking to the land beyond. A wall a foot or two taller than the boy ran from both of the rocks, preventing access to what lay beyond. Link galloped full speed ahead, holding onto Epona's reigns tightly. He eyed the blue wave painted on the surface of the white wall intently.

Epona leaped over it, landing gracefully on the other side. The horse continued, Tatl smiling to herself as she went to follow.

* * *

Link hardly recognized the beach. This time, the waves were not towering monstrously into the sky, and the sky itself was still calm with the early morning. The water was peaceful and beautiful, the waves gently washing up to caress the sandy shore. The sound of the waters and the seagulls were soothing. The palm trees had not been uprooted, swaying back and forth in the beautiful morning weather.

He remembered last time seeing the remnants of a structure near the shore, and there it now stood in the distance, not destroyed yet by the forces of the approaching moon. There were two wooden platforms constructed a little ways from the shoreline in the middle of the water. The first was at sea level, and a ladder lead up to the second, upon which a round metal ball with windows and a door stood. An odd, rather large, metal hook protruded from the top, Link reasoning it must be a house of some sort.

The sound of Epona's hooves was muffled in the sand as she slowed down, finally exiting the pathway between the rock walls. The beach went on for several feet before it reached the waterline, and Link saw the shore stretched to the right and left, as it had before. The right curled off around a corner, while the left housed two stone buildings built up against the rock wall. They were small, Link deciding whoever lived there must own this portion of the beach, given the two umbrellas open not far from it. The left also continued through a circular cave, through which Link knew would also eventually lead to a dam.

"Well, it definitely beats freezing to death in the mountains," the fairy commented.

Link nodded his head in approval, deciding this journey would be much more enjoyable than the last. There would be no cold to worry about, and this time he would have Tatl with him. There didn't seem to be very much travel possible with the shoreline appearing to be their limitation, and it was quite scenic.

"It's definitely a lot nicer than last time we were here," Link said grimly. He rode Epona closer towards the shoreline but she whined away, backing up. The boy looked from the metal hull in the middle of the water to the stone hovel behind him. "Maybe we should see if someone can watch Epona."

"Yeah. Something tells me the metal ball in the middle of the ocean is not our best bet. It doesn't look horse friendly."

"Which is exactly why we'll ask whoever lives in that house," Link said, scoffing at his fairy's sarcasm. He turned Epona to go back towards the two stone buildings up against the wall, but before he could, his fairy called out to him.

"Hey, wait!" Link turned back around in his saddle, Epona lifting her head as well. "Do you see that out there?" He followed the fairy's gaze. Far out beside the metal hull on the wooden platforms, some sort of mass lie floating in the water; seagulls were surrounding it, buzzing curiously around whatever lay afloat.

Link narrowed his eyes, but he could not make out what it was. "It might be a dead fish or something. Here, let's go see if someone can watch Epona, and then we can go check it out."

Tatl looked at it oddly, though, lingering for a moment longer. She hesitantly went to fly out and see what it was, but then changed her mind, deciding her and Link could both see after they'd discovered who, if anyone, was in the house.

A small, stone fence, similar to the one sealing off Great Bay just outside of Clock Town, created a small yard just in front of the buildings. Link passed two boats just outside of this before he went through the opening, looking at the vessels as he went. Once he was in the yard, he slipped off of Epona, petting her as she looked around confusedly.

"I'll be right back, girl," Link said, smiling. He then looked to the two buildings, Tatl looking just as disconcerted as him. One simply was a stone doorway leading into an empty stone room. There was nothing in it; it just was large, empty, dark, and dusty. The other was an actual building, as it had appeared; it looked to be a small home.

Dismissing the empty room, the two turned instead to the home, knocking on the door.

The man who opened it was massive and bald. He had thick, muscular arms and a fat stomach, blue fish tattooed onto each one of his shoulders. He appeared rather intimidating, looking down on them from at least two feet above Link.

"... Hi," Link said, looking up at the massive man, who looked curiously between him and his fairy. He then seemed to notice the horse.

"What are a boy and a fairy doing riding a horse to the ocean?"

Link, at first, realized how ridiculous it sounded objectively. "We came to see the beach," Link said. "And we were wondering if we could leave Epona here while we did that. I have plenty of money, if you have the food and water." He held out a golden rupee, and the man's eyes shined.

"One hundred rupees? I think you've got yourself a deal. Come on inside." He opened the door and stepped aside, allowing them to enter. It was, as could have been deduced by looking at the outside, a small abode. The only two things standing out amidst the furniture were a picture and a fish. The picture was blurry, but it was a of a tall, slender red-haired woman. Across the room from the picture, was a large bowl; in it, a mysterious fish floated in its waters. It appeared to faintly glow, its golden hue offsetting as it stared at the two newcomers.

Link found himself approaching the bowl curiously. The fish, who had a long tale and what appeared to be two wing-like fins, wasn't like any other fish he had seen before. It bounced up and down slowly, staring, its tail curling and uncurling and snout opening and closing. There was something human-like about its gaze.

Tatl brushed up against his shoulder when she realized he was staring at it. The boy quickly shook his head, turning away from the golden fish to see the man hadn't noticed. He took the lid off of a barrel in the corner, motioning Link to join him. The boy looked to see vegetables of all sorts in it, in addition to a wide assortment of other foods.

"Does this look like it'll suffice?"

"I think so," Link said, nodding his head and smiling, not being able to help himself from throwing another look at the fish.

"What exactly do you do out here?" Tatl asked, as the man closed the barrel off once again.

"I've been catching fish in these seas for thirty years," the tall, powerful man explained. "When it comes to catching fish, I'm even better than the Zoras..."

_Zoras?_ Link hadn't been sure if they actually existed in this realm, but hearing this made him decide they would probably end up having to find them if they wanted to know what to do next. He hoped this man knew where it was they lived. "... That's what I'd like to be saying, anyway. Lately, the seawater has gotten really warm. It hasn't helped my fishing at all."

"That's odd," Tatl commented, her brow furrowing.

"And what's worse, this water has gotten murky, so when I ship out, I always lose my way and somehow end up back at shore."

_The Skull Kid_, Link thought. He turned to exchange a glance with Tatl and knew they were thinking the same thing. This had the imp written all over it. Yet another land, cursed by the skull child.

"We fishermen – and even the fish – are in a real predicament!"

"Sounds like it," Tatl said. "Mysterious, murky, and warm water all sound rather abnormal."

"Yes, and it's been hurting all of us," the fisherman said, nodding his head slowly. He stopped for a moment then, as if just remembering something. "Come to think of it, there was a Zora floating lifelessly out in the bay..." Link's eyes widened. He recalled the floating mass in the water, beside the metal hull. "But there's probably no helping him now..."

"That was a Zora?!" Link exclaimed.

"It's still out there?" the fisherman asked.

"You didn't check to see if it was alive?" Tatl asked, having made the same realization the boy had.

"No... it's just a Zora... and it looked dead anyways..."

Link rushed out of the house, jumping from the doorway back into the sand. The fairy followed him, as he ran for the shoreline. The white mass was still exactly where it had been. Link began removing his shield, scabbard, and bag, leaving them on the ground. He went to grab his hat but remembered it was not there when his hands met only air.

"Link, what if the water's cursed or something?" Tatl asked. "Remember what the fisherman said."

"It's not," he responded, as he took off his boots. "At least not here. Remember? I ended up in the water two cycles ago." He then began wading into the water, before the fairy could come up with some other warning.

Eventually, his feet did not meet sand when it became too deep, and Link began swimming the rest of the way. He used his breast stroke to kick further through the salt water, the body becoming closer and closer, seagulls beginning to clear at his approach.

It was floating on its back, bobbing up and down in the water. Its skin was a very pale bluish-green, darkening at the ends of limbs and whiter towards the center. The creature was humanoid, as all Zoras were, the main differences being the coal black eyes, fish-like skin, and sharp, thin green fins protruding from its forearms and ankles. It was blue-spotted and had a long, sharp end to its head, almost in the same shape as Link's hat would have taken.

"Hey!" Link called out, beginning to tread water when he reached the Zora. The seagulls had all cleared by that point, and, as expected, the Zora did not respond. Its head was still craned back, eyes closed, and mouth agape. The water continued to rise and fall, Link bobbing with it, some splashing into his mouth. He could taste the salt, and spit it back out, grabbing the Zora by the arm.

Its skin was soft and leathery, shining and slippery as he tried to pull. His next grasp was firmer, and he began the tedious journey of making his way back to the shore. "Are you going to be okay?" Tatl asked, having flown out to see if she could help, but realizing she was unable to.

Link didn't answer, unable to as he swam back to the shore with the Zora in his arms, the fairy understanding. The Zora then stirred, Link continuing onward, its movement appearing weak. "_Somebody_...," he spoke weakly. "... _The shore_..."

"We're almost there," Link reassured him.

Tatl flew back to the shore, awaiting as Link finally approached. Eventually, Link's feet hit sand, and when that happened, the Zora's body drifted onto the bank as well. Link began to try to lift him to carry him the rest of the way out of the water, but the Zora resisted him.

Surprised, Link backed away, as he watched the half-fish, half-man crawl his way out of the shallow waters. The tall, thin Zora made it just onto the dry sand, shakily progressing and hardly appearing able to stand. Link remained just beside him the entire time, and wasn't surprised when the Zora suddenly lost all ability to stand.

Link caught him before he fell all of the way, resting him on his back on the sand. The boy, out of breath and dripping wet from his swim, examined the body of the Zora but found no wounds. Regardless, the fish was breathing in and out deeply and harshly, and the boy wondered how close to dying he was.

"What happened?" Link asked, looking worried at the Zora. His eyes were still closed, as he appeared to struggle to breathe. He wanted to help him, but didn't know if it was possible. At a loss, he was surprised when the Zora did finally speak.

"... I am Mikau of the Zora people... guitarist in the Zora band...," he struggled to get each word out, never opening his eyes. Link noted that this was a young, handsome Zora, probably in early adulthood, both tall and gangly. The aquatic man definitely was not dying of natural causes. "I think this is it for me... My final message..."

Mikau tried to lift his head, as if struggling to get up, but Link gently laid his hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," Link said. "You need to just lay here. We'll find something to help you." The boy turned to his fairy, blond hair still dripping and dark. "Tatl! Can you go see if the fisherman has anything?"

The fairy, having been staring worriedly at the Zora, was snapped out of her trance. "Oh, yes! I'll be right back." She flew off, Link turning back down to the man.

"You're going to be fine," Link told him.

"... Will you listen to it?"

"To what?" Link asked, watching his chest heave in and out painfully.

"My final message?"

Link opened his mouth to try to protest, to try and tell him again that they would save him. However, when he looked to see Mikau's eyes had opened, he decided against it. In the eyes, he saw a sadness and resignation that he had seen before. It was the same look Anju had had as she had laid dying in Clock Town's plaza.

Link, pursing his lips together, slowly nodded his head.

Mikau closed his eyes again, satisfied with Link's response. "The carnival's beginning soon, you know?" He spoke with what little breath he could obtain, softly and lightly. "We're the ones they're waiting to see. But Lulu, our vocalist... she laid some strange eggs. And she's lost her voice... nobody can hear her."

Link confusedly looked down at him, not sure exactly what he was saying but listening nonetheless. The Zora opened his eyes again and found Link's dark blue eyes. "In Great Bay, something's been happening." He seemed worried, breathing heavier, looking around for something that wasn't there. "Gerudo pirates... they stole Lulu's eggs..."

"Gerudo pirates?" Link remembered the Gerudo tribe from Hyrule, from which Ganondorf had hailed. Then he remember looking from the Skull Kid's eyes, at all of the pirates dying... burning by his hand...

"I went to stop the Gerudo pirates," Mikau explained, beginning to calm as he closed his eyes again, though still shaking. "I got knocked down, and... and... I don't think I'm going to make it."

"Tatl's going to see if she can find something," Link explained, pushing all of the thoughts regarding the Gerudo pirates out of his head for the time being.

"If I die like this...," Mikau began, coughing. "Even if I die... I won't be in peace... Somebody has to rescue her eggs." The Zora then opened his eyes again, and the boy watched as he slowly began to raise his arm. Mikau placed his hand on his shoulder, not taking his eyes from his. "_Please_."

"Link!"

He turned to see Tatl flying back towards him. She was empty-handed, and the fisherman was no where to be seen. "He said he doesn't have anything for... for a Zora," she stammered, shaking her head as she talked in panic. "Link... he's... he's _terrible_. He's just like Mutoh. We can't let him watch Epona; we can't let him do anything for us. What are we gonna do?"

"Tatl," Link said, getting her attention, to calm her. The fairy stopped, looking to see that the boy and Zora had both resigned to what was going to happen. She looked worried down at the dying Zora, her face stricken with grief.

"Oh, somebody, somebody...," Mikau began, tossing his head side to side as he laid there. "Please heal my soul."

Suddenly, Link's face darkened. He and Tatl exchanged a glance, and his hand went to the pocket on his belt. Slowly, he pulled the dark blue ocarina into his hands. He thought of the mask salesman, under the tower, and his wicked grin. _Maybe when I'm done with you, I can turn you into a mask too, and you can join the collection._

Was it evil to use his magic? Could anything good come of what the dark sorcerer had taught him? Had he been wrong to ever play the song the other times?

"Someone... Please... Heal me..."

Link looked up from his ocarina at the dying Zora, who was racked with pain. He took in the light blue body a final time, looking at how it still moved with some semblance of life, even if it wouldn't be for much longer. He then closed his eyes, putting the instrument to his lips tentatively.

He knew the notes. All he had to do was run his fingers exactly as he had before, and the Song of Healing would come forth. And its magic – either dark or light – would supposedly heal him. Link, eventually, decided to play the song.

Tatl watched as Mikau began to stir differently than he had before, his eyes twitching behind the shut eyelids. Eventually, the stirring turned into relaxing, as the breathing began to slow more and more. The soothing melody continued to roll forth, Tatl finding it as alluring as always. She managed to fight its noises, however, realizing how it appeared to be lulling the Zora into death.

Tatl opened her mouth to scream, to stop Link, but she stopped herself. Instead, she watched, as the Zora seemed to enter into a state of bliss.

"My soul... heal my... my soul..."

Mikau struggled to get the words out, but as the melody continued, he found himself being pulled into the notes. He stopped trying to worry about speaking, because of the song. It was beautiful. Each note was more vibrant than the next, resonating all around him. He smiled, as the pain began to ebb away and the smells of the beach faded.

He turned, and he saw her.

Lulu.

She was so beautiful. The Zora smiled shyly at him, her eyes looking up at him in the curious way they always did. "You're late," she said. Her voice was so beautiful, so sweet.

"Lulu," Mikau began, laughing lightly. "You can talk."

"Thanks to you," she said, smiling again.

_The notes. They were so pretty. So beautiful_.

They echoed throughout the vast blackness of the plain in which he'd found himself, but it didn't matter. Because Lulu was here.

"I love you," he said, pressing his face against hers.

"I love you too," she said, giggling. "Come on. They're waiting for us."

Mikau looked up to see his other bandmates were there as well. Evan. Japas. Tijo. He smiled, bringing his hand down and curling his fingers around Lulu's. The two smiled, walking hand in hand as the notes of the song faded into the darkness.

Link heard something fall into the sand almost as he soon as he'd finished playing the song. He opened his eyes.

Where Mikau had once been, laid a mask.

* * *

_- The Previous Cycle, with 36 hours remaining -_

He struck a match, lighting the lantern hanging on the wall. The small, closet-sized room was illuminated, revealing the desk, chair, and bookshelf. He opened up the large sack of objects he had collected, flinging it just beside the table.

_Today's loot was almost too easy_.

He lowered his hood, revealing his bald head. The tall, thin man wore a simple brown cloak, but hopefully, with what he had stolen, things could change. The man sat down at his desk, opening the bag and beginning to pull objects out and lay them in front of him.

The rupees glistened, and he smiled greedily. Red, gold, _silver_. He would be a wealthy man in no time at all; with this money – in addition to eventually kidnapping the mayor's son and obtaining the ransom – living as a rat would no longer be necessary again. The name Sakon would soon carry more weight than it every had before.

He continued sifting through the bag of valuables he had collected, when his hand met something unfamiliar to him. He pulled it out and remember it at once: the package. He had stolen it from the Stock Pot Inn, not having yet opened it. He laid the light, brown paper on his desk, string tied around all of its ends to hold the contents tightly. He looked at it confusedly.

There was no address. He wondered if the innkeeper had intended to mail it but hadn't gotten around to it. Or maybe had it been delivered unmarked? Regardless, it was his now.

Sakon opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a small knife. He brought the blade up underneath the string holding the package together and let it unfold. The thief then pushed the paper aside, his expression turning more curious as he looked at its contents. It was terrifying. Who would possibly send something as horrifying as this as a gift?

He lifted it from the paper it had been wrapped in, pushing it aside and examining the object closely: the ReDead mask.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Santiago: Thank you! I'm glad you appreciated the rebel Skull Kid moment; I was excited to allude to where exactly I plan on taking that story line. And this chapter, as I'm sure you saw, was definitely the bridge between Romani's Ranch and Great Bay, so we are finally there!

BalloonFighter7: Thank so much! A retelling of exactly what had happened in the game was certainly not my intent, so I'm glad you liked the liberties I've taken and my efforts to constantly tie those liberties back to what the game presented. It's taken quite a lot of effort, but I'm happy with the product as well. And I'm excited to show you how I plan on portraying those things as well.

SCAG: Thanks! We'll have to see.

EX-MARK: Hm... probably soon!

Guest (Chapter 1): Yes! Having a silent protagonist would have been rather dull from a narrative perspective. I hope you did end up enjoying it!


	44. Zora Hall

_Chapter 44: Zora Hall_

As the sky's blue became more vibrant, the sea seemed to become green. It shone brightly as the sun continued to rise. The waves cascaded gently onto the shore and foamed outward, sliding across the surface of the sand as it continued to push and pull. The breeze was cool and filled with the ocean, blowing gently upon the boy as he sat at the water's edge, with towels wrapped tightly around him.

He held the Zora mask in his hands, staring down into the face that had been Mikau's. The world around him was calm and peaceful, in spite of what had happened. Nothing had stopped to mourn the death of the Zora; the ocean continued filling the world with its beauty. Only two strangers were left to contemplate his death. Nothing else in the world seemed aware of it, and that chilled Link.

His mind often returned unprovoked to that night where Anju had died, but this time, he thought about how he and her mother had been there to grieve her. It had been two people that had loved and cared for her. Did that make a difference? Maybe dying was simply dying; the dead certainly could not protest leaving the world alone.

The sound of the waves... pushing and pulling... He had heard them roaring as he had run along the beach. As he had sprinted to save his only remaining friend. As the ground had shaken and the last hours had ticked away. He remembered the fear that had filled his stomach, the fear that he would never see her again.

The waves continued to push and pull, upon the shore. Rocking up and down to bring land with it, before springing outward with its blue, swishing hands to consume the small stretch of land once more.

"You know, this would actually be beautiful, if this hadn't been where the Skull Kid took me," Tatl said, Link turning to see she was lost in thought. "Do you know how long I sat in that trench, just waiting? Watching the imp stare at me?" She swallowed, eyes now downcast. "All I could do was watch as the sky got brighter, and hope you would come to save me. Even though I realized how impossible that would be." She smiled, turning to face him. "But you did."

"Yeah," Link replied. "There's a first time for everything, though. I haven't been able to save anyone else." He motioned down to the Zora mask, as if for proof.

"That's not true," Tatl said. "You were the Hero of Time in Hyrule, weren't you?"

_Were_. For some unknown reason, her use of the past tense bothered him. "Yes, but ever since Termina... I guess ever since the mask salesman... I've lost everyone. One by one. And the only people I do save just end up dying when the moon falls, anyways. Except for..."

"... me and Epona?" Tatl finished.

"Yeah," Link said, smiling and nodding his head. "Except for you and Epona." There was a moment of silence, in which Link looked back to the see the fisherman with his horse. "I know he's not our first choice for a horse-sitter, given what he had to say about Mikau. But we really don't have a choice. I think we can at least trust him enough to watch her."

"Yeah," Tatl agreed softly, much to Link's surprise. "I guess in the moment I let my emotions get the better of me. Even if he is a racist pig, something tells me we're not going to be able to bring Epona wherever we go." Her eyes then turned to the Zora mask. "Which... do you think that mask...?"

Link nodded his head. "It'll probably do the same exact thing. Just like with Darmani and the butler's son. But... it feels so wrong, to kill him and then use his body to further my own ends."

"You didn't kill him," Tatl corrected.

"I know, but..."

"And you're not using it to further your own ends. You just told me that you're upset that the moon keeps killing all of the people you save. Well, if we stick to this plan, if you use that mask so we can find the next temple, then we'll be one step closer to saving them for real."

Link, still fiddling with the mask in his hands, smiled. "So you've accepted that we'll have to enter another temple?"

Tatl scoffed, smiling to herself. "Yeah, I pretty much figured I was being a little too optimistic thinking anything else. I managed to skip out on the last one, so I guess my short reprieve is over."

Link got to his feet, brushing the sand off the lower half of his tunic and letting the fisherman's towels drop to the ground. He put back on the upper half of his tunic and his boots, deciding he was dry enough. His blonde hair was still darkened with remnants of the salt water, as he looked back to watch the fisherman peer at the boy and his fairy curiously.

"I probably shouldn't turn into a Zora right in front of him, should I?"

"No. Especially since your first transformation is always the most terrifying."

"Which way should we go, then?" Link asked. There was the way he'd gone to save Tatl, which he knew ended at the dammed waterfall. To the right was a mystery, and then there was the bunker-like building not too far from the shore straight ahead.

"I really feel like we should check out the abandoned house in the middle of the water. Whoever lives there probably has a few interesting things to say."

"Sure, but I don't want to get wet again," Link answered. "Right after I dried off. Maybe we could borrow a boat."

"Or you could turn into a Zora?" Tatl suggested, turning to see the fisherman walking inside. "Quick, before he comes back out!"

Link sighed, looking at the mask hesitantly. "You're right, the first transformation is never very fun..."

"But breathing underwater sounds like it could really come in handy."

Link eventually nodded, taking another glance to see that Epona was still reigned outside by herself. He then took a deep breath, placing the mask over his face.

It came alive, as the ones before. His face once again appeared to be the host of a parasite, as Mikau's face began to take over it, digging further into his own. Tatl watched worriedly, as Link grunted, trying his best to hold in the screams and keep his hands away from his face. He was unable to keep his composure for very long, however, and Link soon fell to his knees, his hands grabbing at it as he still managed to hold in the yelling.

His skeleton began to enlarge, as it had the last time, but instead of darkening, his skin lightened. His physique remained thin. He began to grow taller, as his head morphed shape, beginning to look as if his missing hat was beginning to grow itself back on top of his head. He kicked and wriggled in the sand, but eventually the pain stopped, and Link began to sit up slowly, feeling odd in his new skin. Tatl looked in amazement, as the Zora that had just died now sat alive in front of her.

Link's skin was now pale and bluish-green, his limbs a darker green at the ends and lighter towards the center. His head was long and pointed in the back, becoming green as the pigment approached the tip. He eyes were coal black, and he now had razor sharp fins protruding from his forearms and ankles. The lower half of Link's tunic had remained long enough to now become short shorts, as Mikau had been wearing before he died, but the upper half was now pulled tightly against his Zora chest, which had grown upward quite a bit.

Link held his arms out in front of him, examining them oddly, as he remained sitting. He rubbed his fingers together, unsure how to feel about the rubbery, fish-like texture. Blue spots dotted his oddly hued skin, he found as he observed himself in interest. The air felt dry as he breathed it in, his lungs feeling much different in his chest as he took the oxygen in and out. It felt slightly uncomfortable and arid, being out on dry land, and he suddenly looked at the ocean eagerly.

He knew that Zoras spent their childhood mostly underwater, and that by the time they were adults, they were used to spending time out of water and were never bothered by it. However, as a newly born Zora himself, the water appeared very tempting. He knew what to Zora adults was a place of zen – underwater – would be to him a place where he could satisfy an insatiable urge he was just now having for the first time.

Tatl noticed Link staring longingly at the water, and she smiled to herself and how quickly the aquatic instincts had taken ahold of him. "Link... you okay?"

"Yeah," he said distantly. His voice sounded odd to him, now being the one that had spoken to him on its deathbed. It was slightly more high-pitched and echo-like than his own, knowing that the voice would be much clearer underwater. "I... have to do something first." He tried to pull the uncomfortably small tunic off of himself, but it only came off when he ripped it off.

Link then sprinted at the shoreline and dove into the ocean. Never had he felt more at peace in a body of water. He shot through it like a bullet, the fins on his body perfectly designed to send him shooting forward as he wiggled his body up and down like a worm. When he breathed in the water, it was even more refreshing than the air, the dryness no longer slightly irritating, it rushing in through his nose and mouth as he zoomed past the metal hull on the wooden platform.

He felt like laughing, and almost restrained himself, but remembered that he was now a Zora. He _could_ laugh underwater. The odd echo-like quality of his voice above land became perfect for the water, his laugh traveling through the salt and liquid as if it had been meant to do just that. Link continued swimming blissfully, rising to break the surface and fly out into the air for a moment, the sun glistening on his fish-like body. He then fell, diving back into the water and never losing his form as he continued swimming, rising himself up and out of the water time and time again as he spun and danced gracefully.

Tatl watched from the shoreline, smiling to herself. "What a showoff," she commented.

Several minutes later, Link was walking up the shore back out of the water, dripping wet, panting, and smiling at his fairy.

"Took you long enough," Tatl commented. "How was it?"  
"Amazing," Link said, his aquatic voice catching him off guard again. "It was just like being in a Deku flower when I'm a Deku scrub... or being rolled into a ball when I'm a goron."

"I wonder what the human and fairy equivalent to those things are," Tatl commented, as Link sat on the sand beside her. "You're probably one of a handful of people ever that's been able to be... more than one kind of creature. We probably don't even realize it when we're in our own element. It's just natural."

"I know," Link commented. "Which is why it is so crazy experiencing another's. It really... puts things into perspective. Wow. That felt... that felt _amazing_."

Tatl rolled her eyes at him, still smiling, as the boy stared out at the water. "Don't get _too_ excited, fish head. We don't want to waste too much time."

"Right," Link said, getting back to his feet. He noted his possessions: shield, scabbard, and bag, still laying around in the sand. He brought up his hands to remove his the mask, and instantaneously transformed back into a human, his upper tunic reappearing and intact, though his original one lay in shreds on the ground. He threw the bag over his shoulders and reapplied his weapons, before putting back on the Zora mask. His bag, sword, shield, belt, ocarina, and shirt all vanished, and he was once again Mikau.

"To the hull?" Link inquired.

"To the hull," Tatl responded.

Link nodded his head, diving into the water as Tatl followed him from above the waves. In mere seconds, Link was climbing up on the first of the wooden platforms, climbing the ladder up onto the second with the small metal building. Tatl joined him in front of the door. There was one porthole on the outside, the strange metal hook poking out of the roof and shining in the sun.

"Should we greet whoever is inside with Zora you, or Link?" Tatl asked.

"Oh, I didn't even think about that," the boy responded, having planned on walking in without transforming back. "I should probably be me, in case this person is anything like the fisherman."

Tatl nodded her head in approval, as Link removed the mask and knocked on the metal door with his dry, human knuckles. An elderly man opened the door. His back was hunched and his teeth were ridiculously crooked and scarce, the hair on the top of his head in the later stages of a balding process. He wore a small blue cap and a long blue coat, crazed eyes taking in the boy and his fairy.

"And who are you?"

"My name's Link." He paused for a moment, not sure what to add after that, before motioning to his fairy. "And this is Tatl."

The man stared at them confusedly, narrowing his large eyes as he opened the door the rest of the way. "What is it that has brought you to the Marine Research Lab, boy? Did you also come to watch the Zora eggs hatch?"

Link hesitated before responding, remembering something Mikau has said about Lulu's eggs. They'd been stolen by the pirates, and Mikau had died trying to retrieve them. "Actually, yes," Link responded, as the old man stepped aside and allowed them to enter.

The room was very blue, a massive fish tank taking up the entire back wall. The wall of the tank facing the room was clear, revealing that there were no animals within. A smaller fish tank was just beside the opening of the door, with a large red fish inside, while a table with an odd assortment of lab equipment was against the one opposite. The gigantic fish tank across the room, however, definitely commanded the room. Link approached its vast glass surface carefully and in awe, as the old man went to the table with the instruments.

"I'm excited about it, too, but those eggs haven't arrived yet," the professor said, shaking his head and sighing. "It takes about one to three days from the time Zora eggs are laid for them to hatch. But if they aren't kept in this aquarium until then... they may die."

Link turned around slowly to face the old marine researcher again. "Why?"

"The recent abnormal weather has caused the ocean temperature to rise in this region," the professor explained. "Zora eggs are very sensitive to changes in the temperature. The only way the eggs can hatch is if they're placed in this aquarium water, which I set aside for them long ago." The old man motioned towards the large tank that Link stood in front of. "The Zoras are well aware of this, but they're still late. I wonder if something has happened at Zora Hall?"

"Zora Hall?" Link inquired. "Where's that?"

"What do you mean, where's that? It's out into the ocean a little bit, south down the beach line. How'd you know about the eggs hatching if you've never been to the hall?"

"... The fisherman told me," Link explained.

The old man thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head. "That pig. I'm surprised he knows about it at all. He doesn't understand that Zoras are just as humanoid as me and you. We should be equals." The old man turned back to his table, having been momentarily distracted, and finished the scribble in his notebook that he had already begun. Link backed away from the tank, looking towards the door. "Why'd you want to know where the hall is anyways? You can't get there without a boat."

He paused, however, eyes squinted when he turned to look at the boy again. "Now that I think about it, how did you get here without a boat? You're completely dry."

"I... just dry off really fast," Link explained hesitantly, walking to leave.

The old man merely stared at them curiously as they approached the door.

"It's true," Tatl added, nodding her head. "It's insane. You wouldn't believe it if you saw it."

"You are a strange pair, certainly. And I would wager not from around here. Are you sure you don't want to stay and chat? I imagine your story is an interesting one."

"We would love to, but we should get to Zora Hall," Link explained, not liking the inquisitive stare the researcher gave him. "We'll try to figure out what's going on with the eggs."

The old man didn't say anything else as Link stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, back out into the sunny Great Bay day.

"Well that was awkward," Tatl commented. "I suppose next time we walk into someone's place we should have an actual reason to." Link nodded his head, pulling the Zora mask out of his bag. "Are we really going to Zora Hall next?"

"Yep," Link replied. "Abnormal weather changes may be our culprit – the curse for this region. If it's killing Zora eggs, than that's reason enough to cause a panic. And I'll bet there's more to it than that. We should go there and find out more."

"Sounds like a plan to me. South is in the direction of the dam."

"Yes it is," Link answered. He placed the mask over his face and was Mikau. "But I don't think we'll be heading down the shoreline quite as far."

"Or in quite as much of a hurry."

* * *

_- Two Hours Earlier -_

The thief threw the brown coat over his shoulders, attaching the dagger to his belt and securing it firmly in place. Despite the darkness of his enclosed hideout, he knew the sun would finally be rising outside. Torches lit his way as he began to walk into a room off of the hallway.

Sakon opened the door to a small, closet-sized room. The lantern hanging on the wall was still illuminated, revealing the desk, chair, and bookshelf. An empty sack lay just beside it, Sakon grabbing it and holding it open.

He would head to town today, and see what he could find. He hadn't been in the past few days, and his previous loots hadn't been all that successful anyways. The Sun mask was the last valuable thing he had stolen, but he wanted a few more trinkets before he planned on executing the final stage of his plan. The plan involving the mayor's son the night the carnival began.

With the sack in hand, he turned to leave the room, but a soft sound startled him from behind. It was the sound of something light and wooden landing on his desk. The bald, tall, lanky thief turned around to see something had simply appeared on its surface. One minute it had been blank, and quite suddenly, there now lay a mask.

It looked like a mask of a ReDead face. Sakon approached it slowly, his brow furrowed. He turned his gaze to the clock hanging on his wall. It was exactly six o'clock. The sun had just broken the horizon.

The thief placed his bag down and picked the mask up, holding it in his hands. It looked rather terrifying, but it was also very light. He had never owned it before or seen it, and there was nothing above him but a roof for someone to have dropped it. It had simply appeared out of thin air. For him.

He held it with reverence in his hand. What had brought it to him? Was it a gift from the gods, a divine sanctioning of his plans? Or was this for some new plan or purpose? He smiled to himself, as he lifted it up.

It must possess mystical powers. Why else would it have been delivered to him? He would find out what it did, before he went to town. Maybe it would help him in his thieving.

* * *

_- The Present -_

"Do you think that's it?"

Tatl pointed to the mass in the distance. It wasn't too far from the shore: a massive rock protruded from the water's surface. In the center of the round mass was a thick, rocky column shooting several feet into the air, with what looked like a decorative fish tail at its peak.

This had become visible as soon as they traveled through the circular cave on the original stretch of beach. The shoreline continued curving southward, eventually also passing the tall black columns of land standing out of the water that lead to a cave. He remembered running by it on his way to save Tatl, and he knew that trekking further would eventually lead to the dam. The rock with the fish fin on top, however, had not been visible to him in the final hour, given the tumultuous nature of the ocean.

"Looks like it to me," Link commented, his voice still Mikau's.

"Well, I guess you should try to find a way to swim in, and I'll fly?"  
"I'll see you there," Link said, nodding as he dove into the water again.

He barreled forward as he had the first time, heading towards the base of the distance rock, with his body passing over the sandy bottom of the ocean. He wiggled forward as it became closer, and he noticed at its base was an opening. Link began to direct himself towards it, but quite abruptly, his swimming journey was cut short.

Wet, moist lips of some sort had swallowed him whole, snatching him out of the air and beginning to suck him inward. Link instinctively began to wriggle free, the gelatinous, fleshy mass continuing to suck him further into its body. His legs had already been encased, as it attempted to pull his arms in too. Link suddenly found a new use for the sharp fins on his arms.

He thrust his right arm into the brown mass attempting to eat him, slicing through a layer of flesh and causing blood to trickle from the wound into the water. The mass of goop instinctively retracted, spitting Link out and spiraling him through the water. He stopped himself once he was safely away from the creature, turning to look back at what had almost eaten him.

He recognized it instantly as a like-like. These creatures were commonly found in Hyrule and were literally brown, fleshy masses. They were tubular, with a dark hole at one end used for trapping prey. Quite infuriatingly, they often ended up stealing his shield, even though they never successfully had eaten him. It was the same hue as the sand and had therefore blended in. The like-like, now bleeding, began to inch its way further in the opposite direction of the Zora, retreating back into its hiding place.

Link peered down at the fin he'd used to stab it, noting the red now dotting its tip as he floated in place. In addition to this, however, he looked at the fin's base. He'd felt an odd sensation at the point where it was connected to his arm and found the reason why: it had begun to detach itself. Little white hooks of some sort, embedded in his arm, had begun to slide out of a sleeve in his flesh that he hadn't known existed. The fin retreated back into his arm soon after he noted it coming out.

Link held it firmly in his hand in concern, turning to see that another like-like was standing in the entrance he was heading for. The Zora swam to be much closer, but stopped before approaching the pile of flesh too closely. It seemed to have noticed Link, and also appeared to have resolved to remain standing where it was, so as to prevent him from entering the hall.

Link remained where he was, staring at the like-like as he lifted his forearms so the sharp fins were pointed at his enemy. He then tapped into the same feeling that he had experienced when the fin had begun to detach. At the moment, both of the fins sprung forth from each of his arms and spiraled in a wide arc dangerously towards the like-like. The creature had no time to react. Both fins sliced into it from either side, coming out of its gluttonous flesh and spinning back to Link like boomerangs.

The like-like began to lose structure, collapsing until it was a dead pile of goop. The fins spiraled back into his arms, returning to their homes cleansed of the like-like's gore by the water. Link remained standing in shock after what had happened, smiling when he looked down at his arms to have discovered his new-found ability. On top of breathing underwater, swimming at lightning fast speeds, and being able to fight most of the effects of water resistance, he also had throwing knife/boomerang mechanisms on his arms. Link thought he had a new favorite mask.

Noting that the other like-like he had injured was waddling his way back towards him, Link swam to the opening he had recently cleared. Once he passed through, he discovered the majority of the rock seen from above was actually a thick protective ring surrounding the column in the middle. It appeared to be the true structure he had been trying to reach.

Link landed on the ocean floor with his feet, walking towards a fish-shaped passageway leading inside of the column. His body seemed to traverse the ocean floor as if he were walking on land, taking in enough water and using his fins to accomplish this as he approached what he assumed to be the doorway. A sign was just next to it: "Zora Hall ahead. Now rehearsing: The Zora band with that deep-sea sound, The Indigo-Go's!"

_The Indigo-Go's?_ For some reason, Link felt that as foreign as the name sounded to him now, it would soon become quite relevant. He remembered Mikau saying he was a guitarist in a band, and he swore he'd heard the band name mentioned at least once or twice while he was in Clock Town. _What if Mikau was a celebrity?_ Link didn't like the idea, and sighed as he began to walk into the hall.

Of course, it would be his luck to have stolen the identity of the most famous Zora in all of Termina.

He rose to the surface and climbed out of the water onto a cool, green, rock floor. The hallway sloped upward until it lead into a much bigger room. The Zora walked carefully towards it, hearing the sound of a waterfall as he approached the main room.

It was beautiful. The pathway he was on ran in one direction and circled most of a spectacular pool of water in the very center. It shone brightly and clearly, separating the pathway he was on from a stage in the middle of the pool. The stage was a giant, ornate clam, with four large waterfalls powering from behind it. It was all aesthetically pleasing, and the water in the air was sweet to breathe in, the scent of the place appealing. The clam stage shone from afar in the high-ceilinged room, the water in front of it shining just as brightly.

"Oy! Mikau!" Link's attention was drawn to the male Zora walking by him. He was as tall as Link but was more muscular. Though the Zora only contained blue and white, the green color seeming to be exclusive to himself. His head, rather than pointing off, grew into a full fledged fish tail, hanging heavily half-way down his back. "What's up with the rehearsal?"

"The rehearsal?" Link inquired, stammering. His assumption had been proven true; it appeared he was, in fact, the lead guitarist of the Indigo-Go's.

"I've been told that rehearsal is about to begin," the Zora explained. "But the band members are still shut away in their rooms." He appeared rather annoyed, looking away from Link's solid black eyes and shaking his fishtail head. "And Lulu's just hanging around by that lone island out back. What's going on?"

_Lulu_.

"... Official band business," Link managed to stammer out. The Zora didn't seem to buy it, looking at him strangely. "But don't worry, we're getting it worked out as soon as possible."

"Is Lulu all right?" the Zora asked, sensing that he was hiding something. "She was just staring out at the lone island in the back... She looks kinda strange."

"She'll be okay. That's what we're working on." Link saw a flash of white light from far behind the Zora; Tatl had flown in across the room. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Link walked past the fish person, the Zora appearing rather dissatisfied with his conversation. Link and Tatl met halfway down the path circling the stage, meeting right next to a Zora who sat with her feet dangling in the water. She also had a fishtail on her head, Link wondering if it was just himself who was lacking this.

"Tatl! You found a way in?"

"Yeah, out back. There was a doorway that opened up above sea level."

"Was there a girl Zora out there?" Link inquired, remembering what the Zora he'd just passed had said.

"Yeah?" Tatl said, confusedly. "I think so? At least, she appeared rather feminine."

"Good, then we should go out and talk to her." He began walking in that direction before Tatl followed. Instead, the fairy seemed preoccupied with examining the rest of the room.

"Wait, Link! Hold on." Link turned around, but Tatl also noticed that the Zora sitting beside them had turned to face her oddly. The fairy realized she'd called Link by his actual name.

"Oh, I mean...," Tatl said, pretending to laugh it off in the face of the Zora's confused glares. Link walked to be back beside her, throwing her an equally confused glare. "Link. That's _funny_. That's my cousin's name. Sorry... b-b-bud. M... M-M-Michael."

"Ah, you're Mikau, right?" the female Zora eventually said, turning away from the fairy to face him.

"Yes," Link answered, hardly able to keep himself from smiling at Tatl's mortified face. "I'm Mikau. Tatl's terrible with names."

The female Zora laughed lighted, turning back to the water. "Well, good luck practicing for the concert! I'm looking forward to your rehearsal."

Link nodded, returning the smile and motioning Tatl to follow him. When she was beside him again, she spoke in a hushed whisper.

"_It's not Michael?!_"

"No, it's Mikau," Link said, laughing softly. "But it's fine. Just remember next time, in case it's someone who it would actually make a difference for."

"Mikau... Mikau... Mikau...," Tatl began to repeat to herself. "You were right about that, though. I _am_ horrible with names."

"You didn't learn mine until after a good day or two of adventuring together," Link added, as he stopped walking, unsure of where to go at the fork. He could continue through a passageway leading to another hallway, or circle further around the stage.

"Those circumstances were different!" Tatl explained. "You couldn't even talk, at first."

"Which way did you come from?" Link asked.

"Yeah, that's why I stopped you. Why do we have to go see the girl Zora? Shouldn't we explore and find out more stuff in here, first?"

"I think Lulu should be the first person we talk to," Link suggested. "She's the one _Mikau_... not Michael... mentioned several times."

"You think she's Lulu? Well, by all means then, let's heed... _Mikau's_... warning."

Link smiled, as Tatl pointed him to go down the hallway. It ended at a door, but also branched off to the left and right, the two following the left one. It sloped up slightly and eventually lead out into the outside world again.

* * *

They were, as Tatl had explained, now at the back of the fish-like column, having walked out of a doorway at its base. The doorway lead out onto a small landmass that quite quickly ended at ocean again. Several feet from the edge of the piece of land, however, was a rather small island. It was hardly several feet across, two palm trees growing from its green, rocky back. Otherwise, it was just ocean.

In the distance, what looked an incredibly massive fish could be seen touching the horizon. Even though the sun was still shining brightly on the young day, a large, dark violet cloud was rotating around the structure, obscuring details.

A Zora was standing by herself near the doorway. She was beautiful for a Zora, Link saw immediately. Her head was large and hammerhead shaped, but she had pretty, white, blue-spotted, wing-like fins flapping up and down on her back. She wore a smooth, dark blue dress, and her small hands were clasped over her chest, as she stared down sadly at the rocky ground.

Link, as soon as he noticed her, approached her carefully. She did not look up to greet him, but merely stared at the ground with her brilliantly blue eyes. "Lulu?" Link asked.

She shook her head, her face etched with a deep sadness, but she refused to respond, staring down at the ground. "Lulu... are you okay?" There was still no response, except for her expression worsening, becoming sadder. Then he remembered something Mikau had said: that she'd lost her voice. He wondered if this was due to her having lost her eggs.

"Lulu, it's me," lied Link, deciding the revelation that Mikau was dead would have to wait until later. Mikau had never explicitly stated it, but he'd garnered that the two had at least some romantic dynamic between them. As much as it irked him to be merely posing as her boyfriend, she didn't seem as if it any of it was making much of a difference to her now.

"Maybe we should go...," Tatl said distantly, made uneasy by her chilling sadness and dark face.

Link, however, turned to look at the fish-shaped structure far out across the ocean, with the dark cloud surrounding it. He then noticed a sign at the edge of the platform they were on, just in front of the gap of water separating them from the island.

"Great Bay Temple ahead. Swimming prohibited due to murky water."

Tatl, who flew up beside Link to read the sign too, made the same realization he did when they looked back out at the structure far away. "That's it."

The two remained standing there on their small platform, both looking out at their destination so far into the distance. Tatl was the one to speak next, moaning loudly. "A freakin' temple! See, I _knew_ that was going to happen, I _knew_ it! But did that stop me from hoping it wasn't going to happen? Nooo..."

"Getting there is going to be a problem, though," Link commented, ignoring her sarcasm.

"I feel like you could probably swim that far," Tatl stated, but this comment too was laced with sarcasm.

"Until that purple cloud incinerated me," Link pointed out. "Besides, it says the water's murky, and remember what the scientist said about the water? I bet I wouldn't be able to swim out there anyways."

Tatl nodded her head in agreement. "How are we going to get out there, then?"

"We'll do the same thing we always do," Link stated. "Help people. And hope that gives us the answers." He turned to her, his face dead serious.

Tatl pursed her lips, but nodded her head in approval. "I figured as much. So, where do we start? Getting those eggs back from the pirates? And helping Lulu? Thus the band?" Link turned to look at Lulu, who still stood beside the doorway leading back inside, downcast. He wondered if she was listening to their conversation, or even had bothered to attempt to. "What are you going to do after you help them? Leave? So that when the moon kills them all, they'll think Mikau abandoned them?"

"No," Link said. "After we help them, we'll tell them the truth. Mikau... and the rest of them... deserve better than that."

Tatl had something else to say, but held it back. _Either way, they'll be flat as a pancake in three days._ "Well, I guess we'd better get to it, then."

"We don't even know where the fortress is, though," Link commented, finding it hard to take his eyes from the saddened Zora.

"Um, I was thinking we should stick around for a little bit longer anyways. You probably have a room here, and belongings... or at least Mikau did. We should check all of that out, and talk to as many people as possible before storming off. This quarter of the adventure will most likely be a lot more luxurious than any of the other ones."

"Don't say that yet," Link said sharply, finally turning from Lulu. "With us, things can go from bad to worse at any moment. We still don't know what the Skull Kid is up to. Or Dark Me, for that matter."

"Hopefully they're chilling beyond the mountains," the fairy speculated, as they turned to go back into the hall. "Really, things are hard enough without them swooping in to do some damage every now and then. … Also, what's up with that little island? It seems really out of place." Tatl saw that Link wasn't following or listening, however, watching him give one last, lingering look of pity for Lulu. If he had been struggling with finding the right words to say, he never found them, because they turned back into the domain without another word.

* * *

Zora Link and Tatl hardly began to walk around the clam stage again, passing by doors along the wall beside them, when a Zora ran up to them. "Hey, Mikau!" the Zora called, stopping when he was just in front of them. Link watched as his eyes lingered on the fairy in confusion for only a moment. "I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?"

"Oh, you know...," Link began.

"Evan, your bandleader, is looking for you."

"He is?" Link inquired, the Zora not sure how to take his uneasiness. "That's great and all, but... I think I'm going to go to my room first."

"Uh... okay," the Zora said, appearing confused. The three of them stood together in awkward silence for a moment, Link having hoped that the Zora would give him some hint as to where his room was. Then, he realized that the Zora was looking oddly back and forth between himself and the door he happened to be standing just in front of.

"Oh, yes! My... my room," Link stated, pointing to it and nodding his head. "My bedroom. For me, Mikau. That's, where I said I was going to go." The Zora only seemed more perplexed, eventually deciding to smile and nod his head.

"Yep," the Zora said. "That's it. Yours and Tijo's." He then turned to leave, leaving the apparently socially inept Zora behind.

"Wow, could you be anymore incredibly awkward?" Tatl inquired.

"Shut up," Link said playfully, turning the door knob and stepping inside.

The room was large, the walls and roof fashioned of the cave rock the rest of the hall was. A narrow strip of land connected the land he stepped out onto and the other side of the room, where the possessions and belongings seemed to be. Elsewhere, under and beside the strip, there was a large pool of water. There were two levels: the bottom one, where someone already was, and the top one, where a broken ladder promised to lead to, which he assumed was his half. Link stepped in uncertainly, not having expected to have a roommate, the grassy floor feeling odd under his boots.

The Zora was across the room on the first floor, sitting behind a drum set he casually was messing around with. This Zora seemed far wider than previous ones, this exemplified in his face, head-shape, and his body. He appeared to not have a fin protruding from his head or a small point like Link. The Zora was far fatter than any of the others he had seen, not possessing the lean figure many of the other Zoras seemed to boast.

He looked up from his drumming when Link entered, smiling broadly with shining black eyes. "Mikau? Where've you been?"

Link wasn't sure how to respond, stepping to cross the land bridge uncertainty. "Just out. Swimming." Then he remembered what the Zora outside had said. _Yours and Tijo's._ Suddenly, that comment made much more sense.

"I was worried," said Tijo, Mikau's roommate and drummer in the Indigo-Go's. "The concert in town is coming up, but it seems like all the band members are in a funk. I betcha didn't know that, huh?"

"Actually," Link began, having begun to grow accustomed to the wavy nature of his Zora voice. "I kind of figured that out on my own. Lulu seems pretty upset."

"Especially Lulu," Tijo added, shaking his head as Link made it to be just across from him, Tatl floating beside him. "I haven't heard her voice in a long time. She's usually in good spirits, too."

"Yeah," Link said distantly, unsure what else to say.

"I wonder if this has anything to do with the ocean turning all weird," he added, looking off curiously. "There's a rumor that the ocean is getting weird 'cause there's trouble off shore at Great Bay Temple. And they say when that happens, something bad will befall the Zora descendant who's been protecting the temple. Do you catch my drift? And lately, Lulu has been looking kind of weird. Maybe Lulu's the..."

He stopped short, however, shaking his head and dismissing the notion. "You know, Evan's looking for you."

Link nodded his head and looked away, trying to pretend like he wasn't bothered by the implication regarding Lulu's true nature. His eyes found the broken ladder leading to the top half of what he assumed to be Mikau's half of the room. "Yeah, I just wanted to stop by here first."

"Um... Don't get mad, but I want you to hear this," he paused, looking down before back up at Link. The boy disguised as a Zora turned back to the overweight Zora, suddenly terrified of what he was going to say next. "I tried to climb up the other ladder to your practice area, and it broke. I'm gonna go on a diet now, so just forgive me, okay?"

Link laughed lightly, relieved. "It's fine. I'm sure someone will fix it soon."

Tijo's attention, however, seemed to have been directed elsewhere. "Who's your friend?" he asked, looking curiously at Tatl.

"What – me?" Tatl asked, caught off-guard and not having expected any attention directed towards her.

"Yeah. You're a fairy, right? We have a Great Fairy that lives not far from here. She's pretty good friends with us Zoras. What brought you and Mikau together?"

"We're old friends," Tatl blurted out, without thinking. "We ran into each other."

"We're cousins, actually," Link lied, remembering incorrectly what the fairy had said to the other Zora. He threw her a glance, hoping Tijo wouldn't catch it, but the large Zora did.

"Cousins?" Tijo inquired, shifting in the seat behind his drum set. His feet seemed rather small for such a large body. "Man, what kind of a messed up family tree do you two have? How do a Zora and a fairy end up related?"

"By marriage," Link interjected quickly, realizing the implications too late.

The drummer simply stared at them dumbfounded, his mouth slightly agape and his eyes growing more and more suspicious by the moment. "I didn't know your Aunt Ruto got married to a fairy. I didn't even know that was allowed."

"It is where her husband comes from," Link explained, uncertainly.

"So, you attended the wedding?" Tijo inquired, laying his drumsticks down beside him. "Between a fairy, and your Aunt Ruto?"

Link paused for a moment before answering, noticing that Tatl was trying to give him a look. He decided it was too risky to acknowledge it, and so he ignored it. "Yes."

"Mikau...," Tijo began, shaking his head. "What's going on? Why are you acting so weird?"

"I'm not-"

"You don't have any aunts or uncles," the drummer stated. "So you definitely don't have an aunt named Ruto. I just made that name up. Unless you and everyone else have been lying to me this whole time." Tijo paused, waiting for Link to say something, but when he didn't, his bandmate continued. "I knew something was off about you. You looked pretty weirded out. What's wrong, Mikau?"

"Nothing," Link stated, beginning to grow nervous, Tatl remaining silent beside him.

"Mikau..."

"It's Lulu." Suddenly, the words began to come to him, and he knew what to say, turning back to face the deceased Zora's roommate. "I know what's wrong with her, and this fairy's here to help me. But... I'm not supposed to tell anyone... I _can't_ tell anyone... Or else it would cause a panic." He saw Tijo's expression soften, as if somewhat hurt by what he had to say. "I'm sorry. This is best for Lulu, though. We have to help her... as quietly as possible."

Tijo nodded his head, appearing slightly disappointed as he picked up his drumsticks. "It's cool," he said calmly. "That's why you have to speak with Evan, isn't it? He's in on it, too? You two and the fairy?"

Link didn't respond, merely staring back.

Tijo nodded his head to signal he didn't have to respond. "It's all good, it's all good. I trust you Mikau. I'm sure you have good reason to keep things from everyone. I'll keep my lips sealed. Don't worry."

"Thank you," Link said. "And I'm sorry, but-"

The door to the bedroom opened and another Zora entered, interrupting their conversation.

"Mikau!" he called.

"Yes?" Link responded uncertainly.

"The stagehand told me you were in here," his voice was deeper than the other Zoras he had encountered. "I was looking for you. Can we talk?"

Link uncertainly exchanged a glance with Tatl before nodding his head and going to the door. "See you, Mikau," Tijo said. "And don't worry Evan – your secret's safe with him."

The Zora who had interrupted them, presumably Evan, wasn't sure how to respond to that, smiling before leading Link out into the large room and closing the door behind them. "What did you tell him?" Evan, the bandleader, asked. His shoulders were much broader than the other Zoras, and he had a large jaw with a head that was fin-less, like his own. He certainly wasn't muscular, but Evan seemed to have a much more commanding stature than the others.

"Nothing," Link stated, realizing he was treading on dangerous water once again. What did Evan think he knew that he didn't want Tijo to know? He'd used Tijo's lack of knowledge regarding Lulu's situation to his advantage, but maybe there had actually been more truth to it than he realized. "I didn't tell him anything."

"Well, good," Evan began, gesturing Link to follow him. They began to walk several doors down, all the while curving around the clam-shaped stage, with several other Zoras passing them. "How was it? Did you get the eggs back?"

_ The eggs._ So there had been a secret about Lulu that he'd unknowingly discovered from Mikau. Saving the eggs had already been apart of his plan, but now it appeared that at least one person had already expected him to be on a mission to find them. Then, he remembered that that was exactly what Mikau said he had been doing, when he was injured. He appeared to have happened across the only other confidant.

"Who's this?" Evan interrupted Link's train of thought, and he realized that he hadn't been responding. The three of them had reached a door, and Evan's hand was on the handle. His eyes, however, were on Tatl.

"Oh, yeah," Link said, after a moment of consideration. "I ran into her on my way here. She's convinced she's me cousin and won't leave me alone."

"What?!" Tatl exclaimed.

"That's... really strange," Evan stammered. "So I suppose you don't mind if she waits outside?"

Link turned to face her, hardly able to stifle a smile. "Oh, don't worry, dear old _cousin_," Tatl said disdainfully. "Go in! See if I care." She stopped, as Evan opened the door and lead Link inside, but couldn't restrain herself from speaking again as they slipped in. "But I will get you to believe me! You have an aunt! And her name is Ruto! And she's my mother! Why won't you _believe_ me, Mikau?!"

Link helped Evan close the door, who had seemed uncertain as to whether to cut the fairy off. The boy disguised as a Zora stepped further into the room, noting that it was much different than his own. It was still enclosed with cave walls, a roof, and a floor, but the main feature of the room appeared to be a large piano at one end.

"The fairy just started following you?"

"Yeah," Link stated. "It's slightly annoying."

"She never found out what you were up to?" Link shook his head, facing the bandleader once more and crossing his arms. "Good. I'm still keeping Lulu's problem a secret from the other band members. They've all been looking forward to our Carnival of Time concert. And I can't tell them it's canceled because Lulu can't sing, can I?" He then eyed Link in a different way, as if just having realized something. "... You couldn't do it, after all?"

Link looked away, hoping that this was a convincing enough response. "Have you been to see Lulu out in the back by the ocean?" Evan continued. "Ever since the pirates stole her eggs, she's just been standing out there gazing at the sea and sighing."

"I know," Link said. "I tried, but..."

"Mikau! We need those eggs safe so Lulu can get her voice back. We've grown accustomed to life in a peaceful sea...," Evan trailed off, looking down at himself as if to highlight his soft form.

"The only one among the Zora tribe who is still able to go to blows with those wild pirates... It is you, with the blood of Zoran heroes flowing within you."

_The blood of Zoran heroes?_ Link stopped himself from the ludicrously of it all. _Again? Had the Deku scrub been a hero, too?_ He could imagine the sarcastic comments that would roll from Tatl's tongue when he told her. However, he realized that it made sense as to why Tijo had been able to call him out on not having an aunt. If it was common knowledge he was in the lineage of heroes, than he imagined his bloodline was public knowledge.

"I didn't say I was giving up," Link stated, looking back at Evan with resolve. "I'm going back to try again... as soon as possible. I want to save Lulu and get our band together just as badly. Before the carnival."

Evan smiled at this. "Good. I'm glad we have a hero like you to look after us." He paused, however, his smile fading. "Just be careful, okay? I'd hate it if anything happened to you."

"Of course," Link stated, his stomach lurching slightly. "I'll be fine. And next time I come back, I'll have the eggs."

"Do you have enough empty bottles to carry them in?"

Link didn't respond, never having thought about it. He had a bottle of water in his bag, but never had he considered needing containers to carry eggs in. "There were... four eggs, right?" Link asked, taking a stab in the dark.

Evan shook his head, scoffing. "Mikau, there are seven. Maybe it's a good thing you didn't get to them this time. What would you have done? You can't carry all seven of them out in your arms and hope to sneak by."

Link wasn't sure what to say, wondering if Mikau had thought about that before he'd gone on the journey. "Can I get empty bottles here?"

"The shop should have a few," Evan said, looking at Link oddly again. "Is something wrong? You seem a little... off."

"Aside from Lulu losing her voice and her eggs, and the band falling apart?" Link inquired.

Evan sighed, putting his hand on Link's shoulder. "I know it's hard, but I believe in you. You can get them back."

Link nodded his head. "I will. Thanks for checking on me."

Evan smiled, putting his hand back at his side. Quite unexpectedly, his smile faded, turning into a grimace. The hand he'd put on Link's shoulder went to his chest, wincing in pain.

Link, now concerned, tentatively reached out to support him in case he fell. Evan waved him away, backing up and taking his hand off of his chest. "I'm fine," he said, looking away from Link as he massaged the spot on his chest that had apparently flared with pain.

"Are you sure?" Link asked.

"Yeah, I'm...," he paused, turning back to face him as he finished his statement. "I'm fine, Mikau. We need to worry about the eggs for now. It's just a little chest pain."

The boy was uncertain, but eventually was convinced by Evan's look to leave the room, closing the door behind him. Tatl was there floating in place, looking at him slightly annoyed.

"Hello, cousin," Tatl greeted. "Did Evan convince you that you're being stupid, and that your Aunt Ruto is real?"

"Very funny, Tatl," Link commented. "That was the only story I could think of."

"Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure. Just don't think you're _ever_ going to hear the end of your imaginary aunt. And the crazy, delusional fairy that's following you around and convinced you're related to her. Probably just one of your many fan-girls, since you _are _a famous guitarist. Everyone we've passed knows you."

"I'm a Zoran hero, too," Link added, as the two began walking back in the direction they'd came.

"Wait- what?" Link nodded his head, pursing his lips to show his disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. It seems we heroes have a knack for running into each other."

Tatl rolled her eyes, sighing. "Give me a break. … Where are we going?"

"To find the Zora store," Link answered. "That Evan mentioned. Where we're going to find some empty bottles to carry the eggs in."

"Nice," Tatl commented, smiling. "See what wonders can be worked if we actually stop to get _prepared_ before we storm off on an adventure? Aren't you glad I said we should stay?" Link didn't respond, only smiling as he looked straight ahead. "We might even have time for a nap and lunch before we head out..."

"Shut up!"

Link and Tatl were both caught off guard by this outburst, turning to see who was talking to them. A Zora was bent down in front of the door they were passing by, appearing to be contorting to himself to peer through the keyhole. He hadn't even turned around to see who they were, apparently having deemed them loud enough to be breaking his concentration. "I'm busy right now."

The Zora took his face away from the keyhole and looked to see the people he'd yelled out. He froze immediately, his eyes widening as he jumped to his feet. "Ah! Mikau! You caught me!" Link didn't say anything, merely staring at this stranger forebodingly to see how it would play out, Tatl floating beside him and equally entertained.

"Eee... I... uh... er, L-Lulu's been l-looking kinda weird lately... I was w-worried... It's not like I was s-spying on her or anything... I-I'm not some k-kind of weirdo or some sorta slimy fish or anything." He stopped, but Link and Tatl had not broken their gazes. "… Um, yeah. Uh... I just remember that I have somewhere to be... What time is it? Um, yeah. I hafta be there, like, now. Uhhh... See ya!" The Zora then walked away, his head down and refusing to make further eye contact.

Link and Tatl then exchanged a glance before bursting into mutual laughter.

"That. Was incredible," Tatl said, wiping her eye. "It looks like you have a creeper spying on your girlfriend."

"Or a slimy fish, as he would put it," Link said. He laughed again. "Tatl, I missed you. Snowhead was by far the worst time I've spent here. I'm glad this part of the adventure isn't nearly as depressing."

"Me too, Deku head. Me too."

* * *

The sun was unbearable, searing down upon the arid, dry landscape.

The man had his hood drawn, empty sack stashed away into his brown cloak. He was hidden behind the light rock wall jutting outward, it going high into the air to scrape the sky. The canyon ground was warm with the light of the day, the layer of dust at the bottom collecting in little clouds with his every movement. A dry riverbed was not far from where he stood, which was on a passageway curving around the corner he hid behind. Rock walls towered everywhere, obscuring all from view except the sky.

Including the creature he was hiding from. The thief peered around carefully, observing the wolfos who had somehow found itself this far out east. It was sniffing the air hungrily, as if searching for some water or food. Sakon looked down to his belt and touched his dagger to ensure it was there, before reaching into his robes and pulling out something else.

He placed the ReDead mask over his face. _It's time to see what the gods have given me._ The tall, thin man stepped out from behind the wall, in the light of the brilliant sun. The large wolf, yellow eyes wide and gray fur soft and blowing in the breeze, looked up to find him instantly. It must have either found his appearance threatening or appetizing, because the wolfos began to put its weight back on its hind legs, as if preparing to lunge. It growled, baring its sharp teeth.

Sakon threw out his hand, expected something to fly from his fingertips. Fire, or ice maybe. Nothing did, however, no magical powers clearly given in that regard. He put his hand back up on his face, to ensure that the mask was on tightly enough. The wolfos began to take a step forward, keeping its head down and beginning to circle him, nearing the edge of the pathway but never taking its eyes from his.

Sakon put his hand on his dagger then, wondering if this had been a fool's errand. The wolfos began to stop, and he knew that the attack was coming soon. He instead had another idea, though. The thief brought his hands to his hood and brought it down, just as the beast sprung forward.

Instinctively, Sakon's hand went to the handle of his dagger, and it was already drawn and ready to defend. However, something had stopped the wolfos. It whined in pain halfway through its lunge and collapsed back to the ground, its eyes staring into his own. Its expression was now pure terror, the thief noticing that it was bowed before him, its limbs trembling and appearing incapable of movement. Even averting its eyes.

Sakon was in awe. Simply by willing the wolfos to stop moving intuitively, something was forcing it in place. Then, as he took note of the eyes shining fearfully into the eyes of the mask, he understood. He slid the dagger back into its sheath, and willed the wolfos to raise its right paw.

It did. Without hesitation. The creature was at his complete mercy, under the influence of his divine gift. Sakon forced the wolfos to put its paw back to the ground, smiling wickedly.

"Rise, puppet," he declared, as he began to shift the creature onto its hind legs, forcing it to stand with its front paws straight into the air, eyes watering now as they were unable to move. Its back legs shook terribly, as if hardly able to support its weight. It now looked like a scared puppy, rather than a ferocious beast.

A whimper escaped from the wolfos, and the thief felt with that vibration something within the dog that he hadn't realized he could control. Though his mind commanded what it could see on the outside, he realized the mask was allowing him to feel the inside of the wolfos too.

Yes... he could feel its heart beating... hammering wildly in its chest... he could feel its lungs rapidly taking in air... he could even feel the electrical pulses in its mind, rampantly traveling through its brain... relaying messages of panic... telling it to run... to flee... that it was in danger...

"You are in danger," Sakon said, his eyes wide with amusement. "But you can't escape." He began to focus his energy on the creature's heart... willing it to beat faster... The wolfos's pupils began to dilate in response, shimmering even more tragically as the blood began to rush through its veins far too quickly.

Faster... and faster... and faster... It shook terribly... Its eyes turned red... Sakon willed the beast's heart to keep pumping, to exasperate its heartbeat until...

It burst. The wolfos collapsed to the ground, its eyes bloodshot and devoid of life. As soon as death had come, the creature was no longer been under his control. It lay dead, at his feet.

Sakon smiled even more broadly, turning to see the path curling away to the west. Clock Town was hardly a day's journey.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Santiago: Thanks! And the Kafei quest is definitely being foreshadowed, I'm willing to say, but not much else... But yes, Great Bay! I'm excited to be here too, and am more than ready to put it to (virtual) paper and share!

Nathaniel Hone: I would say there is a very high likelihood of that!

BalloonFighter7: Thank you very much! I put a lot of work into all of those parts, so I'm glad you enjoyed them. Interesting points of analysis regarding the ReDead mask and Gibdo, though (without confirming or denying anything)! And for your question regarding the scar in Darmani's form, you answered it yourself, when you guessed! Kotake managed to keep the spreading of the scar at bay, and this was possible because it's not just the Skull Kid's magic, but also the ocarina's. The ocarina magic's presence is what kept Link from dying. ... Now that I think about that, I actually will be detailing that out a bit more in the future, so maybe the explanation wasn't necessary- but I'm glad you brought it up, so I could clarify!

SCAG: We'll see!

EX-MARK: He stole it from the Anju, which presumably she received it from the mask salesman, who intended for Link to receive it for unknown reasons. But yes. Sakon is very suspicious.


	45. The Pirates' Fortress

Note: Thank goodness. The end of the semester is almost here. Which means, more writing time, less hiatuses. Although, I will be surprised if I manage to find time to post another chapter before May. But since this weekend is cause for celebration (Game of Thrones premiere, hooray), and because my workload will triple over the next couple of weeks, another update! Hooray!

* * *

_Chapter 45: The Pirates' Fortress_

The wind was howling, bringing with it snow and sleet as it peddled endlessly on the desolate, northern landscape. An imp watched from within a perfectly circular cave, huddled by the fireplace near the entrance. A dark mask reflected the flames, bouncing off of the black cave walls.

The Skull Kid thought about when he'd brought the fairy to the cave. Majora had told him it could prove how empty and shadow-like she was, and bringing her had been the perfect way to do that. They'd hardly made it halfway through before Tatl had been screaming for them to turn back, but he had dragged her the rest of the way. The imp had been determined that she saw the perfect land; he wanted to her to see what the rest of Termina would become.

He shifted on the rock floor, adjusting his back against the wall. He thought more, staring at the snow that was falling. "We should start heading south, in case your shadow fails."

_**Do you lack faith in me?**_

It was a dangerous question. The Skull Kid swallowed, drawing up his knees closer to his chin. "No. I lack faith in the shadow. I should be the one killing the boy."

_**You have already failed me too many times. He possesses the magic of the instrument, and so can stop the boy.**_

"Why should we be using any magic that's not our own? I thought only your magic could cleanse?"

There was not an immediate response from the mask, and that was frightening. Instead, Majora laughed darkly. _**Go to him, then.**_ The imp almost opened his mouth to say something else, unnerved by the fact that the mask had so easily agreed with him. And the way it had laughed. _Majora never laughed_.

The Skull hesitantly rose to his feet and flew out of the cave. Now in the open snow, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, he saw sand, and was looking through the eyes of another that walked forward. _Keep going_, the Skull Kid told the shadow.

Then he opened his eyes and was once again in the snowy landscape. His assassin was almost there. Maybe he _would_ kill the boy before he got there.

* * *

Link stepped out onto the sand. He was on the original shore, the one where the fisherman was still watching his horse. Link, even though he inhabited the form of Mikau, looked at his horse as he passed. Epona was reigned to the wall, drinking from a pail of water at her hooves. The horse looked up at him as he passed, but she didn't appear to be particularly phased by the Zora, going to drink her water.

"That way?" Tatl inquired, pointing towards the stretch of beach they had yet to traverse. It wrapped around a rock wall blocking what lay beyond from view.

"Yes," Link answered, in his aquatic Zora voice. The two began heading in that direction, hugging the black rock wall as they walked along the sand. The sun, now just past midday, bore down on them from above, the moon always a blemish in the beautiful, blue sky. The ocean continued rocking against the shore beside them, its sound soothing.

Eventually, the sand turned to dark, slick rock, the shore now completely absent. Even as a Zora, it was intimidating walking along the wall. One slip would send him into the ocean, where similar dark rocks were hidden just below the surface. He imagined Zoras weren't anymore resilient to concussions than humans.

"Link?"

"Yeah?" he inquired, keeping his hands on the rock wall, given his slippery feet.

"Do you realize this is only the twentieth day we've known each other?"

He was shocked by this statement, furrowing his brow as he trekked forward. "No. Are you sure about that?"

"About that long, at least," the fairy stated. "I couldn't really sleep when you were napping, so I ended up trying to figure out exactly how much time we've spent here. You know... since keeping track of days makes it hard, when you relive the same three over and over again."

"But only twenty?"

"Well, we left in the middle of some days, so it's kind of hard to be exactly right. But even counting the cycle we spent in Snowhead, when we weren't even together – only twenty days."

"That's crazy," Link said, laughing lightly. "I feel like it's been forever. Twenty days ago, I had never even heard of Majora's Mask."

"Well, twenty-three days, for you," Tatl corrected. "Remember? You didn't spend the first three with me."

"Oh, right," Link replied. "Still. That's insane. I feel like so much has happened since then. I wonder how different things will be twenty-three days from _now_?"

Tatl laughed at that. "Hopefully, we'll be living in a _new_ day for once, that long from now."

Link considered something before responding. "Do you think time passes the same in Hyrule? So that when I go back, it will have only been a month?"

He didn't elicit an answer from Tatl, and when he looked up at her, he saw that all traces of a smile had vanished. She appeared troubled. "Tatl? You okay?"

"Yeah, I... I don't know if time passes the same in Hyrule. When you go back. I don't see why it wouldn't." _When you go back_. There had been a pungency to those words.

"... I'm not going to leave you, Tatl," Link stated. "When this is over."

"But I can't come with you," the fairy replied. "Remember everything the mask salesman said? Shadows can't leave this realm, or... well, I don't know. But I think he tried to take one out of Termina before and something bad happened."

"What?" Link asked, slowing his progress as he began to show more interest in what the fairy was saying. "He tried to take a shadow back with him? Who?"

"I don't know; I didn't ask. I was his hostage at the time, so I didn't think I had much room to..."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I tried to, but you wouldn't listen. You told me nothing the mask salesman said mattered, since he was dead."

"Yeah, but I didn't think he'd told you anything like that," Link stated. "Why would you believe him, anyways?"

"See!" the fairy exclaimed. "There. That's why I didn't tell you. You get mad at me when I bring him up, so why would I?"

"I feel like I'm justified in being mad at him. He-"

"I know what he did, Link. Let's talk about this later, okay? I think that might be the fortress."

Link, at first ready to argue back, let out a deep breath, noticing the corner the fairy had just rounded. It probably hid the fortress from view, and in just a few steps, he would see for himself. "I just want you to know that I'm not abandoning you, okay?" Link said. "Ever. I don't care what the mask salesman said... even if it's true. I'll find a way to make sure I don't cut you out, like Navi did me."

Tatl nodded her head in agreement, though the smile she gave him seemed rather weak. Link rounded the corner to be standing just beside her.

The rocky cliff he was on curved inward for quite a while, eventually ending far across a body water at a giant metal gate. It towered a hundred or so feet into the air, ending at the exact height of the rock wall. It ran on for a while until the cliff continued along on the other side. The gate hid all behind it from view, contrasting starkly with all of its surroundings. It seemed impenetrable and unclimbable, with no other way to get around it.

"That's kind of scary," Tatl commented.

"Yeah," Link said uneasily. "I think it'd be quicker if I swam." Once Tatl agreed with him, he dove into the water, and Tatl swam overhead. It hardly took a minute before he broke the surface, treading water right in front of the massive, red gate, and the rock ledge at its base. He placed his palm over the ledge on the gate's warm, metal surface, feeling puny before its grandiose presence.

Link and Tatl had their attention drawn to the right when something else broke the water. It was another Zora, and he too treaded water just in front of the grand entrance. "Ah! Mikau!" he called, the Zora recognizing him instantly. "What are you doing in a place like this? This is the ominous Pirates' Fortress. I don't think you should get too close."

"I know it's dangerous, but I have to get inside," Link explained, continuing when he saw the Zora was about to protest. "I'll be safe, I promise. I can handle myself. But I have... no idea how to get in there. I didn't see a way to get in from underneath the gate. It goes all the way to the ocean floor."

The Zora shrugged. "I don't know. But whatever you're doing here, you should leave. Because it probably won't end well."

"What're _you_ doing here?" Link asked. The Zora didn't answer immediately, avoiding eye contact with the guitarist. Link, still treading water, waited for a response.

"Well, actually," he began, still appearing rather bashful. "The pirates in this fortress are all women."

"And?" Tatl said, her reply laced with contempt.

"And... better yet, I hear they're all gorgeous. Heh, heh." Ending with his creepy laugh, Link's face went from expressing curiosity to concern, while Tatl's expressed something much different. "So, I thought maybe I should check 'em out."

"So you're a pervert, is what you're saying?" the fairy asked.

"No!" he exclaimed in defense.

"How can you even see them? There's a massive gate sitting in front of your face."

"... Sometimes they walk across the top," the Zora commented, averting eye contact once again.

"You're disgusting," Tatl stated.

"Do they ever open the gates?" Link asked, trying his best to figure out if he knew anything that could help them.

"The Pirates' Fortress is usually closed off by the iron gate," he answered, after a moment's consideration. "So you can't get in from here. And even if you did get in, it's not like the pirates would welcome you."

"Probably to keep out the perverts," Tatl commented, even though she knew that wasn't the case. The memory of Mikau floating in the water half-dead was still clear in her mind.

"Who are you, anyways?" the Zora asked, finally finding some courage of his own. "I've never seen you with Mikau before."

"Oh, I'm his delusional friend that thinks we're related by marriage," Tatl explained, Link throwing her a warning glance. "What?"

"You're crazy," the Zora said, shaking his head. He looked at Link once more confusedly, before diving into the water and swimming away.

Link and Tatl remained floating in place for a while longer, before the boy sighed. "You really should stop pulling that one, before someone realizes something's up."

"Aren't you planning on telling them in the end anyways?"

"Yeah, but that's _after_ I save the entire hall," Link explained.

"Right. And to do that... we're supposed to somehow break through this wall to get those eggs - right?"

Link turned to look at it once more. The mighty iron gate had no hopes of being torn down or opened. Something else caught his eye, however, and he realized he'd also been tuning out a noise in the background. A flock of seagulls was flying in circles around a portion of the rock wall beside the gate, rather close to the water. They called out loudly and continually swooped down, appearing intrigued by something.

"Tatl," Link called, getting her attention and pointing in that direction. "Look."

The two went over to the spot the birds encircled, and Link thought he saw something underneath the shimmering surface of the water. The wavy veil made it hard to make out, as the waves rocked back and forth, splashing up against the rocky shore they were treading beside. "I'm going to go under and check it out." Tatl nodded her head, and Link allowed himself to fall underneath the waves.

He began to tread slowly down until his bare Zora feet hit the sandy bottom, and he saw a small wooden wall against the rock border. The wood had suffered from rot, seeing how it was so far underwater, and it looked like it was covering something. A red skull was painted across its surface, and it was up against the very base of the wall.

Link walked up to it, placing his hand on its surface to find it relenting to that little amount of pressure. The Zora smiled, swimming up to the surface to consult his fairy.

"I think I found a way in!" he exclaimed. "There's a passage under the water that's pretty weakly bordered up."

"How convenient," the fairy replied, turning to look at the seagulls circling around them. "Thank you, my flying friends!" They only cawed in response. "I suppose I should try to sneakily fly over, and see if I can find out where you're coming out?"

"Yeah, that sounds good to me." He nodded his head, smiling at Tatl as she nodded in return. He dove under the water, but this time he swam a good distance away from the wooden wall. Once he was far enough, he took in a deep breath of water, before beginning to swim at full speed in its direction.

He didn't relent once he reached it, spiraling into it. The wood shattered, and Link swam through the dark passageway on the other side.

* * *

Link climbed out of the water onto a dark rock floor, finding himself in a cave that sloped upward into sunlight. He followed it, slowing his pace as he did so. He came out onto a cliff on the other side of the iron gate.

A massive fortress lay in the distance, a large lake separating himself from it. The lake itself was apart of the Great Bay, he knew, but the giant iron gate enclosed it to make it look otherwise. The rock walls continued from left and right until they ended at the fortress, another equally impressive gate blocking off access to it. Although, this second gate was bordered by large, metal walls on the left and right with walkways, promising that there was more than one entrance to what lay beyond. In the lake, four small boats were circling the water, one woman in each of them sitting with a tall spear in hand. From his vantage point at the cave's mouth, he didn't think any of them could see him.

He recalled flying over the iron gate and watching a sole boat patrolling the waters. He'd been standing on top of it, looking down at the unsuspecting guard, smiling. He remembered how fun it had been to kill her, when he had flicked his wrist and watched the purple flames envelope her. Then he had flown over to the fortress and begun slaying all of them. They had all begun to burn, writhing an agony from below.

He smiled. He took in a deep breath, suddenly feeling exhilarated as he imagined the flames. A small fire began to light up in his chest, a strong desire suddenly born within to let something out. It was excitement, but it was also tension, for the energy needed some sort of release. He raised his arms as he smiled, the flame in his chest hammering in his ears...

"Link?"

Suddenly, he snapped back to himself. A sharp pain stung his chest where there had once been pleasure, and he gasped, his hands grasping the spot as he bent over. "... Are you, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Link said bitterly, removing his hand to see a small black speck on his smooth Zora skin. He knew that in his Deku form the black mark was as severely burnt into his chest as his human form. His goron form, however, had never shown a hint of it, and neither had his Zora, until now. He reasoned that, while Darmani, nothing had ever instigated the magic in his scar. Nothing had in his Zora form either, until entering the fortress.

"Is it... the mark?"

"Yep," he said, straightening himself. "Remember when I torched the forest in the swamp?"

"How could I forget?"

"That's when I was looking through the eyes of the Skull Kid when he... killed everyone here."

Tatl swallowed nervously. "And for a moment there... you were tempted to do the same?"

Link didn't respond. "I don't plan on killing anybody if we don't have to."

"Do you think we'd be able to sneak past them and get the eggs with nobody noticing?"

"We can try," the boy answered.

Tatl laughed to herself. "That didn't end up working too well with the Deku guards, remember? I ended up having to distract them."

"Would you be up for that again?" Link asked, turning to her.

"I suppose," she responded nervously, looking back at the guards circling the lake. "But these chicks don't look like they're willing to mess around with anybody."

Link was in agreement. They wore veils over their mouths and stared straight ahead sternly, red hair tied behind to keep it out of their faces. Their skin was darker than other inhabitants of Termina, their light, purple outfit not concealing their womanly forms.

"Wow. As much of a pig as that Zora guy was- I can see the appeal."

"Which I'm sure only makes them even more dangerous," Link commented dryly. Their green eyes stared ahead mercilessly as they paroled, the four boats covering almost the entire perimeter of the lake.

Tatl smiled slightly, turning to face the Zora who was still scouting out his plan of action. "Is the allure of the Gerudo pirate not a factor for the Hero of Time?"

"No," he responded simply, taking a step forward as he narrowed his eyes to examine the walls bordering the second of the iron gates.

Tatl's smile faltered when she realized this wasn't a time for joking, clearing her throat and flying to be down beside him. "Do you have a plan?"

"I think we should look for a way underwater again," Link suggested, stepping away from the ledge. "It doesn't look like there's a way for us to get to the doors and walkways from this side. Plus, underwater is probably the safest way for me to get passed the pirates."

"Yeah... so, should I just hope they don't mind the fairy wondering around their fortress aimlessly?" Link hadn't considered that she couldn't follow him underwater. "I can't exactly blend in very well. I _am_ a bright ball of white light with wings. Even if they didn't mind me at first, they'd _see_ me flying to you once I found you on the other side, and that would ruin everything."

"Do you think you could hide in my human form?" Link asked.

"What?" Tatl inquired, not understanding.

"Like, my bag, sword, shield, and bottles – they're all with me right now, but the mask is hiding them with human me. What if I put you in my bag and then put the mask on?"

"Uh... where would I go?" she asked, appearing frightened. "Some blank void where all of the items you have usually go? I don't know... What if I come back dead?"

"That... would be unfortunate," Link replied, never having considered the possibility. "Maybe I can try and find a way to climb up the wall. Surely-"

"Nah, don't worry about it," Tatl interrupted. "I'll fend for myself while you're finding a way through underwater. If I can find a way to be sneakily reunited with you, I will. Otherwise... I'll scope things out for myself. I imagine the eggs won't be waiting on pedestals for us labeled 'Zora eggs' when we get in, anyways, so I'll try to find them, since it's a little easier for me to get around."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay," Link said. "Just be safe."

"You too, fish head."

Link smiled, before turning to face the water. He breathed in and out deeply, walked up to the edge, and then dove. He glided above the rocky cliff, landing smoothly in the water just after one of the boats passed. He waded himself into an upright position, examining the underwater scene. Scores of other smaller fish roamed around, the sandy bottom dotted with rocks and seaweed. The boats passing overhead occasionally threw shadows upon the seabed. The sun and bright sky shimmered from the other side. Link watched a small white dot fly from over the cliff he had leapt from, heading towards the fortress.

He began to swim in that direction as well, keeping as close to the bottom as he could and swimming silently. He found the latter task easy to do, his Zora form allowing minimal movement to travel long distances. As Link approached the fortress, he saw a sewer system of some sort protruding out of its base. It was barred on the outside, but the bars looked like they could be wide enough for him to swim through.

It was a short swim, only hiding behind a rock once when a boat passed overhead. Once at the gate, he began to squeeze himself through the opening. The metal was hard and uncomfortable against his skin, but he was slender and slick enough to fit through, squirming eventually to be on the other side. He turned to see that he was leaving the lake behind, the large pipe he had entered filled to the top with water.

He began swimming through it, into the darkness of the fortress.

Another gate went from top to bottom not far inside, but he found that a portion of it was plastered with wood, as the outside wall had been. A red skull was painted on this one, too. Link, never slowing down, simply sped up his swimming momentum. He spun through this one as well, the wood just as deteriorated as the last.

When he passed through this gate, he paused, noticing that the pipe he was in had opened up into a much bigger room, this one only partially submerged. The underwater area was a confusing maze of gates and passageways, the above composed of railways surrounding what looked like machinery.

He didn't see any pirates or guards above the water, but decided it would be best for him to attempt to find a way through underneath. He was able to enter the maze of cages easily, but then was presented with a left or right turn. He took the former but soon found it lead to a dead end. He sighed, retracing his steps to try the other way.

After mindlessly swimming through several twists and turns, he almost swam right into something that would have ended his life. He froze just before he touched it, backing away from the small metal ball. Spikes protruded from it on all edges, and it was floating through the cage system seemingly pointlessly: a mine.

Link carefully swam around it, wondering how it had fallen down here and making a note to watch out for them in the future. He continued swimming through the passageways, never once finding another mine, and minutes later, he found himself on the other side.

There was no way out of the room from under the water, and so he approached the ledge at the water level carefully. He pulled himself out as quietly as possibly, though he still dripped wet from the water he had been submerged in. Link looked around the room but saw nobody. He pulled his entire body out, looking to see the only thing on this ledge was a ladder leading further up.

He climbed it, realizing he'd already traversed most of this room from underneath. The ladder lead directly to a door, and Link pressed his head against its cold surface, hoping to discover if there was anyone on the other side. There didn't appear to be any noise, but he took one last glance around the room he was currently in. It was dark and mostly empty, with nothing in it but the machinery and the water below. He didn't think he would find any of the eggs in here. Link opened the door and found himself in a hallway with a door at the other end.

When he opened the door down the hall, he was outside again. The lake was in his view, but this time, his vantage point was from one of the walls bordering the second iron gate. The ledge he was on turned into a bridge, cutting across the iron gate and leading to the other side, where there presumably would be another door.

Link passed over quickly, hoping none of the boats far below would be looking for intruders behind them. They didn't appear to be. Link made it to the other side unnoticed, stepping through the entrance to the fortress on the other side.

* * *

The next area was an enormous plaza. It was open to the brilliant midday, a multitude of buildings and doors and ringing around the rather massive square. Link had stepped onto a small platform that stepped down into the square, the buildings not only on his level but towering from stories above. There was a large crate sitting just beside him near the edge, and Zora Link crotched behind it before anyone noticed him.

In the very center was a large, wooden watchtower. It stretched quite a ways into the air, a ladder leading from the very middle of the plaza up to its top. It was roofed, and a long bridge connected it to the top floor of the far left of the fortress. The building it lead to appeared rather ornate and impressive. One guard stood on the bridge connecting the tower to the top floor, walking along it and continuously eying the plaza from her bird's eye view. Link noticed their were other guards, too, either wondering around or sitting on crates talking; each one was armed with a spear, similar feminine features, and a death stare.

The entire fortress – from its guards to its structure to its security – was formidable.

Link remained where he was, sighing. Getting out into the open would be risky, and he especially wasn't willing to take chances until he knew where he was going. The watchtower seemed to be the obvious target. The bridge clearly lead to a room of critical importance, but reaching it would be challenging. Even if he managed to sneak by the guards below, which he deemed was tenable, the guard on the bridge would be impossible to bypass.

Link scanned the skyline for a while, deciding that finding Tatl should be his next objective. He didn't see her for a while, and eventually he removed his Zora mask, sitting behind the box now in his human form. While waiting, he pulled out one of the seven bottles he had procured, drinking water from one of them. Carrying seven of them around was a nuisance, especially when considering he also had his five other masks and a bow/quiver. Running around in his Zora form was the easiest option, in Great Bay. His mind, despite all this, often went to his bow, when thinking of solutions.

After a while of waiting, he checked the sky again and saw a bright white dot. He smiled and looked in both directions, seeing that none of the guards were paying him any attention. As discreetly as possible, he began to try and signal to his fairy where he was. As soon as the guard on the bridge turned in his direction, however, he sunk back down, suddenly panicked that she might have seen him.

Nothing happened, though, and when he turned back around, he saw that Tatl was flying towards him. He sank behind the crate after this, waiting until she'd flown around to join him. "The front entrance?" Tatl whispered, flying to be hiding behind the box with him. "Clever."

"It's where the sewer system lead," Link explained, just as softly. "Did any of the pirates see you?"

"Yeah, but they didn't pay any attention to me. Something tells me they'll be a little concerned when they see a Zora trying to run through, though."

"Did you figure out where the eggs were?"

"I think they're up there," Tatl said, pointing to the room the watchtower lead to. "That was my first guess, and it seems awfully protected."

"That's where I thought, too," Link agreed, "but I don't know how to make it there."

"Not with the pirates around. But you have a bow."

Link looked down to his bag, slightly uneasy at the fact that Tatl had come to the same conclusion herself. "I didn't want to kill anyone if I didn't have to. Monsters and people are two different things."

"These people are monsters, Link," the fairy put in. "They killed Mikau and stole the Zora eggs. They're in cahoots with the Skull Kid! They're killers and thieves."

"That didn't stop them from screaming just like anybody else would when the imp burned them," Link commented solemnly.

Tatl scoffed. "Link, they're all going to die when the moon falls anyways. Everyone will. And I know you're tired of hearing that excuse, but that's true in addition to the fact that they've all be slaughtered before anyways on other cycles. _Tripled_ with the fact that they're evil and standing in your way to saving the Zoras... I think this is all we can do."

"I know," Link replied, his voice heavy and melancholy. The fairy, not having expected this, turned to face the boy to see he already had his bow drawn and arrow notched. "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page."

Tatl, taken back, opened her mouth to say something, but the arrow already went flying. It zipped through the air and snagged the pirate walking along the bridge in the throat. The blood-soaked end protruded from the back of her neck as she stumbled into the railing and fell over, the spear falling from her hand as she descended.

The guards off to the right of the plaza turned to see their fallen comrade, each of them instantly jumping to their feet with widening eyes. The first opened to say something or scream, but an arrow silenced her. The two pirates beside her were also silenced, one by one, before any of them could speak. The first guard he had shot finally hit the ground.

By this point, Link had already stepped out from behind the crate and was in plain sight, another arrow drawn and looking for the next target. Two more pirates on the second story seemed to just realize what was happening, but Link found them first. They died too, and soon the body count was at seven.

Link and Tatl, now in the open, looked around for more, but didn't find any. They had successfully silenced all of the patrol agents before a single one had called out a warning. Link lowered his bow, letting out a sigh as he put it away, the fairy deathly silent. He hadn't missed a single shot; seven arrows for seven guards. The speed at which he'd resolved to kill them was slightly disturbing, given how hesitant he'd been at first. Still, any hesitancy and they would have been caught.

The murders, also, had nothing to do with the magic of the Skull Kid, she realized. It was simply the dark side of being a hero. It was one she was seeing for the first time.

Link motioned Tatl to follow, already halfway to the ladder himself. He scaled it swiftly, knowing that if anyone saw him he would be a sitting duck. The boy made it to the top without conflict, however, and he ran across the bridge to the building on the other side. He slid his sword out of his scabbard, opening the door and stepping inside.

* * *

They stepped into a metal hallway similar to the one Link had been in before. Sword at the ready, he and Tatl passed through carefully, navigating the turn with caution. On the other side, he found that the hallway opened up to another room, though he appeared to be on the second story of it. A ladder lead down to the bottom floor, the room appearing rather grandiose.

Link and Tatl quickly noted that there were multiple people in the room, so they ran quickly across the opening. The rest of the hallway lead to a dead end, though, but there was a small barred window allowing for them to observe what was happening undiscovered.

Just before Link and Tatl reached the window, however, something caused Tatl to gasp. A large wasp flew by, the insect's pointed stinger threateningly bared. It practically flew into the fairy, but she managed to avoid it. Link froze, wondering if her gasp had caused them to be noticed; that didn't appear to be the case, however.

The wasp flew through the barred window into the generously-sized room below. Link and Tatl watched through the window as it entered a nest hanging from the ceiling, with other wasps buzzing around it.

"I've been waiting for you!"

They're attention was drawn below rather quickly. The room appeared to be a throne of sorts. At its very end was a massive chair backed by spears, and the lady standing in front of it appeared to be a leader. She looked similar to the other guards, but had a much more intimidating air about her, her outfit gold and red rather than purple. A thief in white was standing before her, head bowed in respect. Link noted that their were other guards in the room as well, the entire place seeming very fortified. He was grateful this wasn't the room they had initially wondered into.

A fish tank was up against the wall across from them. It had a clam-like creature resting at its sandy bottom, and something else that was small and green. _An_ _egg_. The tank had a locked door at its side, but the top was open. The boy didn't think he was tall enough to climb it, though, deeming he would need the key.

The guards were surrounding a stash of loot in the center of the room. Rupees, maps, and trinkets were thrown in a pile, in addition to a rather large treasure chest. They were all turned to face the leader addressing her subject, however, the proceedings more interesting.

"And did you find the rest of the eggs?" the leader of the pirates continued, her arms crossed, looking down at the woman bowed before her.

"... N-No. B-But... that's beca...," the pirate before her stumbled, trailing off.

"What are you trying to pull here?!" the leader exclaimed. "If people hear the great pirates have lost the treasure they stole, we'll become the laughing stock!"

"Yes, b-but Aveil... The sea is strangely murky where we were attacked by the sea snakes."

"Silence!" Aveil, the leader, shouted. "That's why the Zoras can't send for any help! Now that the eggs are gone, the Zoras should be frantically searching for them. If we don't hurry, the Zoras will get to them before we do! There are four eggs here now. Hurry! Go find the other three eggs before those sea snakes eat them!" Aveil then gestured her arm outward to signal her dismissal.

"... Understood...," the pirate in white declared, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Aveil called, just before this had been accomplished. Her subject turned back obediently. "The Zora eggs are the only clue we have about that dragon cloud floating over the bay... If what that strange, masked one says is true..." Aveil laughed, rubbing her hands together. "And if we can get our hands on the treasure that lies sleeping in the temple in that dragon cloud... Then we can spend the rest of our lives living the good life! So get a move on and go find them! Now!"

The pirate in white's demeanor seemed to have changed as well, her face have curled into an equally as wicked smile. She laughed too, and then straightened herself, putting her hand at her forehead in a salute. "Understood!"

She then turned to leave the room, and Link and Tatl exchanged an equally horrified glance. If she left, she would enter the plaza and find seven dead bodies. The fairy only looked at him tensely, however, appearing out of ideas. Link sighed, drawing his bow and aiming an arrow through the bars. It was the first idea that had popped into his mind, but it was too late to think of anything else. The girl was already halfway through the room.

Tatl realized what he was doing just before he released the arrow. "_Link!_" she whispered sharply, to try and stop him. The arrow flew through the bars and struck the wasp's nest. It fell to the floor and exploded. Hundreds of yellow and black instincts suddenly filled the room angrily, attacking all of the pirates, including Aveil.

The panic ensued quite quickly. The screaming, shouting, and arm waving did nothing to halt the wasps, however, and neither did the spear waving. Eventually, they gave up, and began to run out of the room together. The wasps followed them out the door.

It closed behind them, taking the screaming and the buzzing with them. Only a handful of wasps remained in the room, flying around aimlessly. Link looked at Tatl, smiling as he stowed his bow away. "No time to celebrate now, fairy boy," Tatl commented, though being unable to restrain the smile. "Something tells me they'll be coming back in here soon enough, once those wasps stop chasing them and they see the bodies."

Link agreed, running to the ladder and descending into the room. The boy walked towards the fish tank, but he stopped short of reaching it, eying the treasure chest amongst the loot pile instead. It was a deep, rich brown, and it was lined with gold. "Link, come on!" Tatl exclaimed. "We can't stop to look at treasure."

"I just want to see what's inside really quickly," Link protested, running up to the chest and beginning to unlatch it. The chest appeared quite exotic and fancily decorated; he didn't believe that he would find rupees inside.

Tatl sighed in obvious disapproval, but she flew to join him nonetheless.

He swung the top of the chest open and let it hang from the other side, eying what lay within at the bottom. He thought a golden light should be shining dramatically from within at what he had found, and he almost felt himself tempted to grab the item and hold it over his head victoriously. Instead, Link smiled.

"What's that?" Tatl asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I know exactly what that is," Link said, hardly able to suppress his excitement. "It looks a little different from the one I had, but that's definitely the same thing."

He lifted the small metal contraption out of the bottom. It was golden, with a handle on one end and a sharp, pointed end on the other. It was about the size of his head, and it looked rather heavy. "What's it called?!" Tatl exclaimed.

"A hookshot."

"A what?"

Link aimed it at a portion of the wall to demonstrate. He held it firmly in his right hand and closed an eye as if he were notching an arrow. When he pressed the trigger on the handle, the pointed end went rocketing off at a lightning fast speed. A chain kept it tethered to the rest of the contraption, and it never slackened. The pointed end struck the metal wall and clinked, the chain never slackening or extending past the wall; it then reeled the pointed end back in. It was rather noisy, but Tatl was impressed after she saw it.

"What the Din was that?!" Tatl exclaimed. "That thing just defied like five laws of physics!"

Link smiled regardless, merely examining the golden hookshot with pure gratitude.

"I mean, there's no way that entire chain could fit in that little thing, and it really should have blown you across the room with how fast it shot out... and it looks so heavy."

"It's actually not heavy at all, and no one knows how they work," Link explained. "They were crafted by some ancient civilization long ago. There are only a handful in existence. I had one in Hyrule, but how crazy is it that I happened to come upon another one here?"

"Pretty crazy," Tatl commented, forcing herself to redirect her attention to the tank again. "But we should really be focusing on getting this egg, getting out of here, and then finding the others." She flew up to the tank, but quickly found the door was locked. "Link, it's locked, how're we going to get in?"

"The hookshot," Link replied.

"Look, I know you found a fancy new instrument," she began, turning around in annoyance, "but those guards are going to be back any second. Now, how do you propose we get in the tank?"

"The hookshot," Link repeated, holding it up. He placed it on the ground and applied his Zora mask, then Link picked it back up and leveled the hookshot to aim just above the open tank. The fairy saw it was aimed at some sort of wooden panel there.

Link pulled the trigger, and the chain shot out. The pointed end latched itself firmly into the wooden panel, and instead of returning to Link, the mechanism in his hand was pulled by the chain upward and _towards_ the end that had latched. Link, as a result, flew threw the air, until he was dangling above the fish tank on the wall, the hookshot still implanted into the wood. He released the pointed end and then fell, falling into the tank below.

Tatl was shocked once more, watching from outside and shaking her head in either approval or disapproval.

The Zora sank to the bottom, with the hookshot still in hand. The tank was rather small, only composed of the minuscule, round thing he'd seen from afar and the clam. The ball was definitely an egg; it seemed soft, its greenish, whitish shell squirming ever so slightly. His attention was directed upward when the clam with moved, however.

Link took a step backwards, standing in between it and the egg. The clam had razor-sharp teeth lining its mouth, and it had turned itself to face in his direction. The creature opened its mouth and revealed its moist, red innards stringing the two halves of the clam together. Then, its mouth closed, and it lunged at the Zora.

Link barely sidestepped it, moving the egg out of the way with his feet. The clam cut into his right arm and trailed blood with it, the clam landing on the other side of the tank and immediately turning around. It opened its mouth again, but this time Link was ready.

The hookshot was leveled, and he fired it. The chain shot out, the pointed end slicing through the innards when they were revealed. The clam instantly fell apart, now dead and floating lifelessly, as the chain returned to its home.

Link examined the cut on his arm, deciding that it was small enough to not warrant attention. He instead turned to the egg, which he scooped gently into his free hand. It was soft, as it had looked, and he could feel some pulse of life within it. There was something feeble about it, however, and Link wasn't sure what that meant.

He swam to the surface and climbed out of the tank, sitting on its edge as he removed the Zora mask and became instantly dry. Link took out an empty bottle, scooped some of the tank water into it, and then slid the egg inside, sealing it shut.

"So it works underwater, too?" Tatl asked, as Link placed his hookshot into his bag.

"Yep," he answered, as he fell to the floor, egg still in hand.

"Is there anything it _can't _do?" she asked sarcastically. Tatl then noticed the bottled egg, flying down to examine it closer herself. "So that's it?"

"I guess so," he responded.

"It looks so weak. We need to find six more?" Link nodded. "Then we should do it fast." The boy stowed the egg away, then looking around the room as if to find what to do next. A couple of wasps still buzzed around, appearing as lost and confused as they were.

"They should be back by now," Tatl replied, off-put by the fact that the pirates had yet to return. "Surely the wasps wouldn't have distracted them that long."

"Maybe they decided to look for the killer elsewhere in the fortress?"

Tatl rolled her eyes. "Surely they're not that stupid. I mean, what are the chances? A wasp nest happens to fall on your heads, and then you run outside to find everyone dead. I highly doubt anyone could think that's a coincidence." She paused. "Regardless, we should go outside the way we came in. That way we know we have the high ground."

Link agreed, traveling over to the ladder and climbing. Tatl followed by her wings, and the two of them were in the second floor hallway again. They reached the door and opened it.

* * *

The first thing they smelled was fire.

As Link closed the door behind them, burning was in the air, and smoke was bellowing out from the fortress. His attention was immediately drawn to the wooden watchtower. At its base, purple flames had begun to lick upward and consume it, the supports at the bottom already beginning to weaken. There was screaming in everywhere, and Link suddenly realized why they hadn't returned to the throne room. The deaths hadn't been pinned on them, and more were still dying.

A shadow stood on the watchtower across the bridge from them. It was a shadow of Link, and its eyes were red. It stared directly at the boy and his fairy as they exited, the two of them hardly having time to process what was happening.

Dark Link had found them.

The shadow, in one fluid motion, brought its bow up and notched an arrow, releasing it without even taking time to aim. Link had already instinctively reached for his shield at the sight of the red eyes, and the arrow deflected off of it, spiraling away. He drew his sword and stood threateningly at the other end of the bridge, his blue eyes reflecting an intensity as they stared at his enemy. Tatl gulped from beside him. He would confront the demon here and now; they would end this.

However, Dark Link took a deep breath and closed its eyes, and when it opened them, they were purple. Link's piercing gaze softened into concern at this, his shoulders dropping as he took a step backward, unsure what was happening.

"He...," Tatl began, but she never finished her sentence.

The shadow threw its arms forward and brought with it fire, the purple ball flying forth in a massive wave of energy. It incinerated the bridge as it progressed, hurdling right towards the boy and his fairy without halting. Link realized there was no time to do anything but run, putting away his weapons and leaping off of the edge. The purple ball of fire immediately passed over the area where he had just been, slamming into the door and destroying it. The bridge was all but gone, ashes descending to the ground where wood had once been.

Link, now falling, pulled out the Goron mask and applied it to his face. He rolled into a ball and broke his fall, slamming into a nearby wall to finally stop his momentum. Link, once again a mountain dweller, began to get to his feet when his arm seared in pain. He clutched it and began to examine it, as Tatl flew down beside him.

"Link he- _what happened?!_"

His right arm was swollen and purple, a piece of wood sticking out of it. The wound had festered and grown infected, and he remembered where it had come from. In his encounter with the Gormon brothers, he had caused an awning to collapse, and the resulting injury had not warranted his attention then. It appeared that a wound's progression did not halt whenever one form or another was hidden in the mask.

"That doesn't matter," he said, his voice deep and that of a goron. "Dark Link, he... he's here... he used _magic_."

The two turned to see the shadow standing atop the watchtower. The demon leapt off of it and propelled itself towards them with a stream of violet flames. It was flying, the fire shooting it forward in a straight line.

"_Link!_"

The goron turned to the door he had landed beside and tried to turn the knob. It was locked. He began to force the door open anyways, using his goron strength to try to break the door open. Meanwhile, the watchtower gave way in the background, finally tumbling over into the plaza and bursting into flames. Dark Link was already halfway there, flying towards them with a river of fire trailing behind.

Eventually, the knob shattered, and Link slammed the door down. Inside, he found two guards, spears ready and pointed at him. They screamed, beginning to charge. Link rolled into a ball and crashed into their feet, causing both of them fly up into the air and land painfully on their backs, now disarmed.

Link kept rolling down the hallway, away from the real threat pursuing them.

It lead into a larger room, at which point Link exited his ball and examined it. It was mostly empty, with a door on the other end, a small staircase leading up to it. A pirate stood in front of Link and the door.

It was Aveil. The leader saw the goron and drew her two scimitars from behind her, brandishing them.

"Who are you?!"

The pain was far too aggravating in Link's arm, and so he removed the goron mask, returning to his human form. He drew his sword and shield, Tatl constantly looking over her should behind him. Aveil gasped at his transformation, backing away and holding the blades in front of her.

"That doesn't matter," Link explained. "What matters is that there's a demon who's going to kill us both, coming down the hall right now." He was frantic, trying to get out everything he could before it was too late.

"No, it _does_ matter," she stated, bold as she took a few step forwards, swiping her swords in front of her. The pirate tried her best to ignore the fact that he might be able to use magic too, given how he had just changed. She suddenly seemed to make a realization, however, looking at the door behind her and then back at Link. "You came for the eggs, didn't you?"

"I..."

"It takes courage to come thieving in the Pirates' Fortress! I'm going to love doing this to you!" Aveil charged, swinging her blades at the boy. Link brought up his shield and deflected the blow. He tried to turn her around so he would be at the other side of her, but Aveil struck out in that direction to stop him. The blade came dangerously close to slicing his leg, so he backed away, and instead lashed out on his own.

The block was deflected as well, but he recovered. The next time she swung a blade, he used his shield to use her momentum against her. His sword brushed the second one out of the way and cut into her side. Aveil screamed, falling to the ground as she bled; Link didn't waste any time celebrating, running for the door and going into the next room.

The pirate fell to the ground, grabbing her wound and wincing in pain. It stung as the blood ran free. Aveil looked up, however, when she saw a shadow looming over her. The demon. Its eyes were once again red. When she had run out of her throne room from the wasps, it had been there burning the plaza, and everyone in it. There had been so many bodies littering the ground...

Aveil scooted back into the wall, away from the shadow. Dark Link didn't appear interested in her. It went straight towards the door on the other side.

* * *

Link found that the room was moderately sized and empty, except for a singular fish tank on the opposite end. Three Zora eggs similar to the one he had found earlier were inside. The boy sprinted at the tank, slamming his sword into its glass and causing the water to rush out. The eggs, as well as another clam creature, were out in the dry air. The monster began to die fairly quickly, but he wasn't willing to do the same with the eggs.

He quickly began to bottle them, scooping what little water remained in the tank with them. It was when he was bottling the second one that the door opened, and Dark Link was suddenly there, eyes no longer purple. The boy had already planned on what to do and reacted instantly.

He aimed the hookshot lying beside him at the intruder. The pointed end shot forth instantaneously, and it pierced the shadow's face. The red eyes were suddenly gone, and the chain sprung out of Dark Link's head and tapped the wall on the other side. It then retracted, going back through the shadow's face and returning to the contraption in Link's hand, free of any blood.

Dark Link merely stood there for a moment longer, its face now a gaping hole. The shadow then collapsed to the ground, lying face first and motionless.

Link quickly finished his task despite this, placing the bottles in his bag and running for the door. As he passed the shadow, Link noticed that it was already moving again, the hole in its face beginning to vanish as it was reconstructed. The boy passed into the room where Aveil was, lying against the wall and holding her wound that bled out.

His blue eyes met her green ones for a moment, Tatl flying out behind him. He almost drew his sword, but then didn't. He took his eyes away from her and continued down the hall, concluding it wasn't his decision as to whether she lived or died. Shortly after, Dark Link exited the room, too, its face intact. The being didn't even notice the leader of the pirates bleeding and cowering in fear.

It closed its red eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them to be purple once more. The shadow then left Aveil behind, chasing after the boy.

Link reached the end of the hallway to find the two guards he had bypassed; they were now barbequed. He didn't pause to examined the charred corpses, but instead went back into the plaza. Link rushed towards the entrance he had came out of it, applying the Zora mask to his face as he leapt off of the ledge.

Link then ran out the doorway he had come in, at the lake behind the first iron gate. He felt a blast of purple fire approaching him from behind and knew there was no time to reflect on what to do next. The Zora dove into the water, the attack hitting exactly where he had been. The boy began swimming swiftly towards the exit. He noticed that the boats had all been destroyed, and that the iron gate had a large hole in it, the black edges surrounding it scorched. It appeared he wouldn't have to take the secret passageway on the way out.

And Link swam. He swam as quickly as he could, as far away as possible, without stopping. He hoped Tatl was keeping up from above, but knew there was no time to break the surface. He had to keep going.

He eventually leapt out of the water and through the hole in the gate, landing in the bay on the other side. He left the fortress behind.

* * *

He was still in shock. He couldn't believe what he had just seen.

A shadow, with red eyes, out of no where had come walking along the rocky shore. Naturally, he'd kept his distance, because who wouldn't? Here he'd been, minding his own business, trying to get a peek at the next pirate to walk by, and suddenly this demon thing was here.

But that wasn't the craziest part. The craziest part was when its eyes turned _purple_, and then it had started conjuring up all of this fire. Ridiculous. If he'd known having purple eyes let you shoot purple fire out of your hands, he would have gotten a new pair of eyeballs a long time ago.

Eventually, it had burnt through the whole gate and walked right in. The Zora had almost been tempted to follow, but decided he should wait to see what would happen first. Granted this might be a once in a lifetime chance to get up really close to one of those pirates, he also didn't want to die. He wondered if Mikau had ever found a way in. Probably not.

He waited outside for a while, floating in the water just next to the rock ledge where the shadow had walked through the hole. Minutes after the shadow entered, Mikau flew out of the hole, landed in the water, and kept swimming.

The Zora turned to watch the fleeing guitarist in confusion. "M... Mikau!" he called out. Mikau never slowed down, however. He kept on swimming, really quickly, too. Then that fairy flew out of the hole after him. She made eye contact with him but didn't seem to really see him. Her face was panic stricken and horrified. She began to fly in the direction Mikau had gone.

At this point, he began to start worrying himself. The Zora backed away from the hole in the iron gate and waited a bit longer. But it was only a few more seconds before the shadow was back. Its eyes were purple, and it stepped out of the iron gate onto the rock and stopped at its edge. It looked out at the water, emotionless and stoic. He watched as it began to inch its booted foot towards the ocean, but then it retracted its foot before it made contact with the water. It appeared afraid of the ocean.

Then, it flung out its hands and released purple fire onto the water's surface. It struck it but bellowed back off, unable to penetrate it and curling up into the air. The shadow continued shooting more and more fire into the water, but none of it accomplished anything.

Eventually, the shadow stopped. Then, it just stood there, simply staring at the ocean blankly.

He waited for it do something, anything, watching almost petrified from his vantage point in the water. Moments later, the shadow brought its purple eyes up and began walking. His heart leapt into his throat, and he screamed. The Zora turned around and swam away as quickly as he could.

_Don't turn back. Just keep going, keep going, keep going..._

However, he did look behind him. But the shadow was still far off into the distance, above the water and out of sight.

The Zora sighed, turning around and still going full speed. He found himself an inch from a metal ball, spikes protruding from all sides. Unfortunately, there was no time to slow down.

_Oh sh-_

The sound of the explosion was muffled by the water.

* * *

The Skull Kid was in the middle of a snowy landscape when he checked on the shadow again. He closed his eyes and concentrated, as he had before.

Then he was on a rocky shore, looking out onto an ocean and flinging fire onto its surface. This was accomplishing nothing, however, the boy and the fairy long gone. The boy had dove into the water, and it was impossible for the shadow to follow.

When Dark Link felt the presence of the imp in its mind, it stopped, and waited.

"You have failed me again," the Skull Kid spoke.

The shadow said nothing.

"Return to me at once. You must be punished."

"_**Yes, master."**_

The imp watched from the shadow's perspective as it began walking along the path it had come from, back to Snowhead. A muffled explosion could be heard in the distance, and the Skull Kid noted a small burst of water flying into the air out in the ocean. He then left the demon's mind, again in the wintry mountains.

_**Punished? **_The mask posed it as a question.

"He needs to learn how intolerable failure is," the imp responded.

_**What would be of you, if I had not tolerated your failures?**_ The Skull Kid didn't respond, pursing his lips from behind the mask. _**Be careful. You are treading in dangerous waters, child. My patience is wearing thin.**_

The Skull Kid flew onward regardless, his mind made up.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Santiago: Thank you! And Sakon is definitely a character to watch out for/be cautious of... But I'm glad you like the different moods as well. Dark and depressing really seemed to fit the mood of Snowhead, so solitude seemed to be the perfect way to accomplish that. And I feel like it all ended up tying in well. We shall see what other events in Great Bay will transpire to continue to set the mood!

BalloonFighter7: Thanks! Yeah, Sakon appears to be a very disturbed individual. But in this story... looks most certainly can kill (with the ReDead mask, at least).


	46. New Wave Bossa Nova

Note: Remember how I said I would be surprised if I could get another chapter up before May? Well... surprise!

Also, I know that there are a lot of moving parts to the story right now (saving giants with Link and Tatl, pirates are mad, Skull Kid is mad, Dark Link just wants to kill people, Sakon has a new toy, the black mark is confusing, and the mask salesman ['wtf?! he hasn't appeared for ten chapters but he has to be doing something b/c he tried to give Link the ReDead mask... right?! I thought he was dead?!']), compared to how many there usually are. But I promise, it's all set-up for where I intend to head. The payoff should be worth it.

And, 400,000 words! Wow! At this rate of 100,000 words per year, I'll be done with this mammoth of a story in no time.

* * *

_Chapter 46: New Wave Bossa Nova_

Link didn't stop until he was climbing onto the rock floor of Zora Hall, pulling himself out of the ocean. He was panting heavily and half-crawled away from the water hole, leaning up against the wall and lying there for a moment to catch his breath.

He closed his eyes as his heart rate finally began to settle.

"... Mikau?" Link looked up to see a Zora peering down at him. The long fish tail was hanging from her head heavily. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I... I'm fine," Link managed to stammer, beginning to get to his feet. He realized Tatl was still out there, and suddenly he was worried again. "I just need to see... Evan." It took him a moment to remember the band leader's name, and then he stumbled past the Zora.

"What's on your chest?"

Link stopped in his tracks. He looked down to see the black mark had begun to creep even further. The small dot was now a dark line. "A scratch," he lied, walking into the main room of the domain. The large shell-like stage was still pristine, the waterfall behind it soothing.

He wasn't soothed, however, until he saw Tatl flying towards him. "Tatl!" he exclaimed.

"Link!" she returned, flying down to meet him. The two stopped when they noticed the other Zoras looking at them oddly. "Link... link- ing your face to... uh... guitar. Hey, Mikau, could we talk somewhere private?"

Link nodded his head, a flash of a smile shooting across his face at the nonsensical way she'd recovered from saying his name. The two returned to Mikau's room, and thankfully, his roommate, Tijo, was not there. Link sat down in a chair on Tijo's lower half of the room, regardless, since the ladder leading to Mikau's was still broken.

"It... found us," Tatl commented. "How did it find us?"

"I think I know," Link responded. "Did you see his eyes?"

Tatl only responded with a grim expression. "It's just like when you...," she began, but she trailed off. "When you get like you do. Except he's somehow controlling it."

"Whenever it happens, I immediately see things from the Skull Kid's point of view," Link explained. "But, when we were on the beach right before the moon fell, when you were in the trench and the Skull Kid reached into my scar... for the first time, I wasn't just seeing through the imp's eyes. I was also seeing through the mask."

Tatl didn't seem to understand, but waited for him to continue, nonetheless. "And now that Dark Link is connected to the same thing the three of us are... what if he can see through my eyes when he wants to?" Tatl's expression darkened even further. "As long as he has that dark magic inside of him – the dark magic and the ocarina's magic – we don't have an upper-hand anymore, and he will always know where we are."

"Do you think he can follow us here?" Tatl asked, all sarcasm absent from her voice.

"... I don't know," Link answered honestly. "Maybe. But I don't think so. Or else he would already be here."

"What if he's waiting for us on the shore? Right when we get back?"

Link didn't answer at first. Instead he looked off, his brow furrowed as he tried to come up with some sort of answer or solution. "I don't know. But we don't have a choice, do we?"

"But if he's there, he'll... turn his eyes purple and kill us! And even if he couldn't do that... he still has his bow and his sword. He never stops, and we can't kill him! You shot a hook traveling at the speed of light through his face, for crying out loud!"

"There's one thing we haven't tried against him," Link stated, Tatl not following. "The same thing that drove the Skull Kid away from trying to kill us. Ever since, he's been too afraid to. That's why he sent Dark Link."

"You mean... your scar?" she inquired, quite skeptical. "Link, we don't even know how to turn it on, without you being upset, or attacked first. And even when it does happen, you're not even in your own head! You'll be inside of the Skull Kid's, and have no control over your actions."

"Self defense seems to be the primary goal of whatever's controlling me, though," Link added.

"Yeah, and setting forest fires that end up almost killing you anyways... remember? I know you've never seen yourself in that state before, but-"

"I have," Link corrected. "Both of the times it happened in front of the Skull Kid."

"... Then you understand how terrifying it is?"

"I understand that it's the only thing that's been able to ward off the Skull before."

"That's because you had something the Skull Kid didn't – your ocarina's powers mixed in with Majora's. Now, we don't have that as an advantage anymore, because that shadow thing has it inside himself, too!"

"What else can we do?" Link asked, getting to his feet. Tatl didn't respond. "Exactly. For all we know, maybe it left. Maybe it's not on the shore waiting for us."

"Yeah, right..."

"Look, we don't have a choice. I'm going to talk to Evan, and then... and then we're going to look for the other eggs. If we run into Dark Link, oh well. We'll try to fight him. Maybe, he'll shoot lightning at me, or fire, and... then my little evil, deity thing will kick in, and maybe we'll stand a chance. If that happens, you just need to fly away as far as possible and hope for the best. Just make sure you're out of my way."

Tatl nodded her head slowly, realizing that this was the best option. "... Deity thing, huh?" Link looked up to see that she was smiling to herself. "Don't think too highly of yourself, kid. You're not a god."

"I didn't think you believed in the gods," Link pointed out, returning her smile.

Tatl laughed. "Fair enough. But what I do believe in is what I see, and... I suppose the power you have – the Skull Kid, Majora, and Dark Link, too – is as close to god-like as anyone could be."

Link pondered it for a moment, and then began walking towards the door. "A battle among gods in a realm of shadows," Link said to himself. "Sounds awfully poetic."

Tatl laughed again. "If we're the subject of poetry, than I hate our author with a passion. I mean, really, how much more bad luck can we take? Everyone keeps dying, and we never get a break."

Link chuckled. "I'm keeping optimistic. Maybe there's a happy ending waiting for us."

Tatl shook her head in disagreement. "Of _course_ you're going to remain optimistic, Link. Your ability to never give up is awe-inspiring."

The two ventured into Zora Hall and followed the path until they were in Evan's room. Link, still disguised as Mikau, found his fist pounding on the band leader's door. "Come in." Link gave Tatl a look, and she sighed in resignation, flying off to allow Link to enter by himself.

As he had been earlier in the day, the broad-shouldered Zora was facing the large piano at his room's end, absently playing at the keys. His head was still absent of a fin, as the melody that poured forth soothed him. There was something familiar about it.

Evan turned around to see Link and smiled, stepping down from the piano and walking up to him. "Mikau, were you successful this time? You look tired."

"Mostly," Link responded, his mind panicking when he realized the Zora eggs were in his human form. "... I found four, but the other three weren't there."

"What?" the band leader asked, his smile fading. "Where are they?"

"I'm not sure. I over heard the pirates say that... that they lost the other three."

"But they didn't say where?"

"They said something about getting them before the sea snakes did. But that was about it."

Evan looked off for a moment, grimacing, before turning back to Link. "Pinnacle Rock."

"What?"

"They were talking about Pinnacle Rock. That's where the sea snakes live. It's just across the Pirate's Cove, where the fortress is, further out into the sea."

"So the eggs are there?"

"If what you over-heard is true," Evan answered. "... And if the sea snakes haven't eaten them already."

"... I'll go out there as soon as I can," Link responded, turning to leave. "Thanks for the help."

"Just be careful," the bandleader cautioned. "The sea snakes are pretty dangerous, but also... the murky water makes it just about impossible to make it out there. You'll have to find someway to make it through."

Link nodded his head. "I will."

"Oh, and one more thing! Where are the eggs?"

Link spat out the first answer that came to him. "In my room."

Evan seemed horrified. "You have to get them to the researcher immediately. In the laboratory with the hook on top. The eggs aren't going to live much longer."

"Got it," Link replied, happy he'd managed to avoid having to show them to Evan. He turned to leave the room, resigned to not take very long recuperating before he'd head out to visit the scientist.

"How'd your super secret talk go?" Tatl asked, waiting just outside the door when he closed it behind him.

"Remember how you worried you might die if you disappeared with the rest of my items? When I put on a mask?" Link asked, the fairy noticing his worried expression.

"Yeah... why?"

"I didn't think about the fact that I was doing the same thing with eggs," Link confessed.

Tatl looked to see that the bag wasn't hanging over his Zora shoulder, which caused her to realize where it actually was. "_Link!_ What the Din?!"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Link commented. "Let's just go check."

They two rushed to Mikau's room. After ensuring no one else was in there, Link removed the mask and took out of one of the bottles. The egg inside seemed to still be pulsing with a small resemblance of life.

"You – are one lucky son of a gun."

* * *

Aveil screamed as the wash cloth was pressed against her wound.

"Not so hard!" the pirate leader called out, wincing at the pain.

"It's the only way it's going to heal," her assistant reassured her, the pirate in question adorned in white. She took a bottle lying beside them and uncorked the top, a strange blue liquid inside. Aveil was lying on a table in a small, dark room, a lantern hanging on the wall to illuminate the medical station. The pirate in white removed the washcloth from the injury at her side, it deep and red. She then poured some of the solution over it, and Aveil's teeth gritted in pain again.

"I'm going to _kill_ him," the leader of the pirates said, teeth clenched. The image of the boy in the green tunic was still vivid in her mind. He'd somehow taken on the form of a Zora, too. Or had it been a Zora taking on the form of a human? She wasn't sure. But the eerie similarities between the boy and the shadow made her think otherwise. "That boy... he's the one who killed some of our guards. The arrows in their necks – they were different from the one's the demon possessed."

The pirate in white only appeared half interested in what she was saying, applying the washcloth again and pressing down. She reached for some bandages, beginning to tear some free. "Both of them deserve to be punished," she replied.

"I bet they're related, too," Aveil added, not even noticing that her caretaker wasn't paying much attention. Sweat was breaking out on the leader's face as she tried to ignore the pain, looking off at the wall and distracting herself with thoughts of the one responsible for her wound. "That boy... he broke into our home and killed our people. He stole what was rightfully ours, and brought a demon with him. And he... turned. He _changed_." She winced in pain as the first of the bandages was applied. "He possesses dark magic."

"He is an abomination," the caretaker commented.

"Yes," Aveil agreed, smiling evilly. "Yes, he is. No one steals from the pirates... or kills them... and gets away with it. Especially one twisted by the dark arts. A warlock." She laughed to herself, looking at the bow and arrows lying next to her scimitars on the floor beside the table. She'd refused to leave her weapons anywhere else. "We leave for the temple tomorrow. We'll beat him there... and he'll pay."

* * *

Link closed the door behind him as Tatl exited as well, the professor calling out for them to make sure they hurried back as quickly as possible. They were once again outside on the wooden platforms, the original stretch of beach where Epona was only several feet away on the shore.

"He seemed much more excited to see Zora you," Tatl commented, smirking.

"Yeah," Link responded. "I'm just happy those four eggs are finally safe, and that I don't have to carry around seven bottles. Three is much more manageable." He paused, looking off in the direction where he knew the Pirates' Cove lay. "Hopefully we're not too late getting the last three."

The two stood on the platforms for a moment longer, both cautiously examining the stretch of land they were about to return to. They hadn't seen any signs of Dark Link yet, but they were ready for him to spring out of no where at any moment. While it was a possibility he had left the area, neither one of them really could understand why he would have – unless the Skull Kid had called him back for some reason.

"Maybe we did get lucky this time," commented Tatl, the two of them on the same wavelength.

"Yeah, maybe we did. It just seems weird to me that one moment, he would be trying so hard to kill us. And the next, he would leave."

"Well, something tells me we haven't seen the last of him," Tatl replied. "But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it... assuming he doesn't burn the next one, too."

Link laughed, and then dove into the water, beginning to swim towards the cove. The fairy followed from above. When the iron gate was in view, Link broke the surface of the water and bobbed in place as Tatl flew beside him. He turned from the fortress to look further out into the ocean.

Out in the distance, he saw two tall, pinnacle shaped rocks. They stood several feet apart from each other and were as far under water as they stood above it. Nothing else seemed to surround them; there just appeared to be two, lone, pillar-like rocks. "That looks like the place," Link commented.

"I would be in agreement. Meet you there."

Link went under the water again, swimming up and down in the fluid motion he always did. Despite that he'd grown accustomed to the pleasurable feeling of being underwater, that didn't take away from its beauty, as a Zora. He took a moment to appreciate how fantastic it was, as he swam.

What took him out of this appreciation, however, was when he passed a mangled piece of flesh floating by in the water. Link stopped swimming, looking at it strangely. He saw other red clumps floating around, realizing something had died here. It didn't take him too long to find the culprit: mines. He saw one or two floating around in the water, as spiky, small, and silver as the one he'd almost ran into in the fortress. One poor, unfortunate sea creature had not be as lucky as he was. He realized this was proof that the pirates had been out here; the eggs couldn't be that much further.

Link continued swimming, now with caution. As he neared the two, tall towers of rock, he saw another Zora swimming just beside the gap between them. It seemed to almost be an entrance way. Once you passed through the two pillars, he saw something else not far past them. It was hard to make out, given how unclear things that far out into the water were. He rose to the surface, hoping to get a better viewpoint.

Far out from the two columns, he saw six rocky peaks protruding from the water, in a ring. This, clearly, was Pinnacle Rock. Although the area above the water appeared just as cloudy and obstructed; he imagined the snakes and the eggs would be found under the water anyways. The curse placed on this land probably would prevent him from actually making it there.

Tatl noticed he'd come out of the water and joined him, while the other Zora also rose to the surface. "That's definitely it," Tatl commented.

"I just don't think we'll be able to get out there," Link responded.

"Mikau, haven't you seen any gold-colored fish around here?" the female Zora asked, having heard their conversation and beginning to swim towards them.

"What?" Link inquired.

"Gold-colored fish know this area very well. I was thinking of getting one to guide me to Pinnacle Rock."

"Gold-colored fish?" Tatl inquired. "Like... a golden Zora?"

The Zora ignored the comment, turning back to the man whom she thought was a famous guitarist. "Do you think it would help me get through the murky water?" Link asked, hopeful.

"Of course," she replied. "If the water wasn't so murky, I wouldn't have to rely on the guidance from a gold-colored fish. But their accuracy is flawless. I heard that the pirates were attacked by sea snakes near the creatures' lair. It seems they dropped something precious there. Don't you wonder what it was, Mikau? But we'd have to get through that murky water to look for it... Where are all the gold-colored fish when we need them?"

"I don't even think this chick knows what she's talking about," Tatl commented, shaking her head.

"No," Link began, Tatl turning to see that he was smiling vaguely, looking off into the distance. "I think I know exactly what she's talking about."

"What?"

Link didn't answer at first. The memory of the fascinating golden creature the fisherman owned had returned to his mind.

* * *

"So, Epona's doing okay?" Link asked, once again finding himself awkwardly in someone else's home. He looked around the small fisherman's hut, trying his best not to make it overt that the fish interested him. The oddly colored, golden fish, with a tail and small fins, continued bobbing up and down, staring at him. It still gave off the odd, human-like vibe.

"Yeah?" the large fisherman inquired, slightly irritated. It took every ounce of Tatl's willpower to not lash out at him, still upset by his refusal to help Mikau in his final moments. "Why wouldn't she be?"

"Help me..." Link was caught off guard by this. He instantly spun to the tank with the fish. It was still looking directly at him, and it had spoken. "Please take me back to the waters near Pinnacle Rock..." He was astonished, not even noticing as he approached the tank slowly. Its voice was small, feeble, and at a pitch of a young boy's, Link not entirely confidant he hadn't imagined it.

"Link?" Tatl inquired, the fairy bringing his attention back to reality. He turned to see the fairy and fisherman were both looking at him oddly, not understanding why he'd approached the fish tank so dramatically.

"Are you interested in that fish?" the fisherman asked, his irritation abating.

"Yes, actually," Link answered, turning back to face him. "Can it... talk?"

The fisherman laughed heartily. "Of course! But a little hard to hear, sometimes. Its only heard by those it wants to be heard by. It's a rare fish, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Link replied, turning back to admire his golden aura again. "I've never seen a fish colored like that before."

"It's called a sea-horse," the fisherman explained. "I caught it swimming around here. Just off of Pinnacle Rock. Since it's rare, I was thinking of selling it at the town carnival, which should be starting soon. If you want it, I'll give it to you."

"Really?" Link asked, beaming now as he turned to face the fisherman again. Tatl's expression even softened, not having expected such generosity.

"On one condition..." the fisherman added. Link, mentally, sighed; Tatl, of course, was not so discreet. "Do you have a pictograph of the female pirates?" Tatl couldn't believe her ears. She inhaled angrily and rose her head sternly, but she held her words in, her lips barely able to keep them at bay. The fairy flew out of the room quickly, before she lost the willpower to restrain herself. The fisherman smirked at this and turned around, with his back now to Link. He examined the blurry picture of the pirate that already hung in his room.

"Um... no," Link replied, after a moment's hesitation. "I don't even have a pictograph box."

"What's this?" the large man replied, turning back to face him, arms crossed. "I guess you don't have one after all. Technically, I do have a pictograph of a female pirate, but it's all blurry and it's not that great..." He looked at it once more, smiling broadly. "The all-important face... I can't see it very well! Any good picture of a pirate will do – even a snapshot of a guard. Can't you help me out?"

Link stood there, aghast. "You want me... to bring you a picture of a pirate. So you can hang it on your wall, and..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish his statement.

"Do we have a deal?"

Link wasn't sure what to say, but eventually shook his head. "Thanks for watching my horse." He then left the hut to find Tatl fuming outside. She immediately flew up to Link and spoke angrily under her breath.

"_Never have I been more... infuriated!_" Tatl exclaimed, sighing, as the two walked away from the hut.

"Not only that," Link commented, "but how am I supposed to take a picture? I don't have a pictograph box to do it."

"... So how do we plan on getting that fish?"

"I think I have an idea," Link said. The fairy, for the first time since they'd exited, noticed that he was smiling.

* * *

He ripped a large chunk of bread off of the loaf in his hand, chewing it firmly in his mouth. He laid back in his chair, feet up on his desk with his ankles crossed. The fisherman watched the horse from inside of his hut, noticing that it had leaned down once more to drink from its pail of water.

What was the horse's name again? Ellen? Pony? Eeyore? He didn't remember. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was the orange rupee in his pocket. It looked like he wouldn't have to go fishing anymore before the carnival. Which was a good thing, because fishing got harder every day with all the fog.

He finished the last piece of the bread, licking his fingers once he was finally done. It didn't take long for this pleasure to turn into disappointment, however, when he took note of his rotund form again. Not fishing for the rest of the week wouldn't bode well for _that_. Not that it mattered, either.

He turned to look at the picture of the beautiful pirate. She was so exquisite; the thought of having a photo that was not blurry was quite exciting.

When a tall shadow fell over him, the fisherman turned around, spotting a Zora standing in his doorway. He got to his feet quickly, throwing out his chest and sucking in his stomach at the sight of the fish-man. "What do you want, fish? This place is for people only."

The Zora merely stood there, and the fisherman suddenly realized something. Upon that realization, he began to back down, his shoulders suddenly dropping and the full mass of his stomach let out. "You... you're the Zora that died... the one from that band..."

The Zora smiled, the small green end to his head much more miniscule than most of the other Zoras'. The fisherman noticed that he had a small metal contraption in his hand. "Are you... a ghost? What do you want?" he asked, regaining some of his confidence.

"My friend," the Zora stated, pointing towards the golden fish.

The fisherman's eyes followed his fingers. "No," he stated, suddenly mad. "No, no, no! You get out of my house, you animal! You filthy creature! You don't command _me_! I am a-"

He was cut short, however. The Zora leveled the contraption in its hand, and the pointed end suddenly sprang forth lightning fast, a chain following it from behind. It zipped just by the fisherman's head, piercing the picture of the Gerudo pirate, right in the middle of her face.

The fisherman jumped up, shaking from head to toe as he backed away from the extended chain. The pointed end returned to the contraption in its hand, a hole now in the middle of the all-important face. "_Gah!_ Just take it, take it, get out of here! Leave me alone!"

The Zora walked up to the tank and scooped the golden fish out, leaving the hut behind.

* * *

Link rejoined Tatl as Mikau on the black rock ledge surrounding the Pirates' Cove, sea-horse bottled in his hand. He'd put the hookshot away and taken the bottle out once he was safely out of view of the fisherman, where Tatl had also been hiding. "Wow, you really did it," Tatl said. Her tone didn't seem impressed, though.

"Yeah?" Link commented, slightly confused at the fairy's disposition. "You didn't think I would?"

Tatl shrugged. "Killing and stealing... seems kind of out of character for you."

"What do you mean?" Link asked, suddenly taken back. "You're the one who tried to talk me into killing the pirates before I did it, and you didn't object when I told you my plan for the fisherman. You hate him."

"Yeah, I know."

"It's not like either of those two things are new for me, anyways. And if I hadn't done either of them, we'd probably be rotting in some cell in the fortress." Link stopped, however, when he realized he was getting quite defensive, despite the fact that Tatl was not.

"I'm just used to goody-two shoes you, that's all," Tatl finally responded. "But I guess goody-two shoes wouldn't get the job done, huh? Come on; let's head out."

Link, at first, felt like he should add more, genuinely disturbed by the fairy's objection. He brushed it off, however, diving into the water as the fairy had begun to fly over it. He approached the two tall rocks marking the entrance to Pinnacle Rock, weary of the mines floating in between him and there.

Eventually, he was at its entrance once again, the Zora from earlier gone. Link looked at the sea-horse in his hand, it still staring at him from within the bottle, with that golden glow. The Zora swam up to the surface, breaking the water where Tatl was waiting. "I think I'm going to go down to the bottom and see if he'll lead me there underwater," Link answered. "So, I guess next time I see you, I'll have three new Zora eggs, huh?"

Tatl smiled, nodding her head. Link returned it, diving back into the water and sinking to the bottom. Once his feet touched the sand, he opened the bottle, and the golden fish swam out. He instantly threw his head back and stretched out his fins and tail, his snout seeming to smile in an odd way. His demeanor clearly changed instantaneously.

He looked around happily, Link following his gaze. The sea-horse didn't seem phased by the fogginess and unclarity of the land separating them from Pinnacle Rock. That stretch of sand was barren and desolate, several feet long. The ring of rocks in the distance seemed impossible to reach, sand and cloudiness filling the water and preventing any sort of visibility.

The sea-horse turned back to face Link. "You have strange powers, Link."

"Link?" he inquired, taken back. The sea-horse's voice was still small, but it was clear to him under the water. The fish's eyes stared, transfixed on him; the golden aura was equally alluring. His eyes seemed all-knowing. How, though, could it have possibly known his real name, and seen through his guise?

"I have a request for you. Please follow me." Before Link could even agree or respond, the seahorse began swimming quickly towards Pinnacle Rock. Link rose from his feet and began to follow, but the sea-horse was going rather quickly.

"Wait!" Link called out, but the sea-horse kept barreling head. So, he swam faster, barely managing to keep up. He cautiously continued watching overhead for explosives. Eggs weren't the only things the pirates had dropped. Mines floated in and out of the cloudiness, threateningly drifting by as Link followed the sea-horse. He hoped the golden fish also knew to avoid them.

Then, suddenly, the sea-horse made a sharp turn to the right. Link, not having expected this, followed, though not quite understanding; this clearly was not in the direction of Pinnacle Rock. He continued nonetheless, and soon the fog enveloped him. One stroke after the next was all he could do, in addition to trusting the sea-horse. In every direction, there was blankness. It was just him, following a golden light.

After several close calls from mines, the cloud abated, and Link had made it to what the six mountainous rocks surrounded. It was an abyss. The massive hole, enclosed by the tall rocks, went down into the earth. It was enormous. Link slowly landed on his feet and approached its edge in terror. He peered over the edge, its darkness not inviting. It was the size of some great coliseum, except it plunged into the unknown, deep below the sea.

The sea-horse had also stopped just before the chasm, and Link turned to face him, the Zora's face now deeply concerned. The golden fish didn't seem concerned, still appearing joyous by the fact that he had been released.

"Here in the depths of Pinnacle Rock live many dangerous sea snakes," the sea-horse explained. Link hadn't expected any differently. As soon as he'd seen the dark chasm, he'd come to terms with the fact that he would have to descend it. "My friend is trapped here." The sea-horse's expression saddened at this, and Link's heart strings were suddenly pulled in sympathy. "Link, can you please find a way to rid the area of all the sea snakes and help my friend?"

Despite the way the fish had simply put such a momentous task, the sweet, adorable, polite, and innocent way he had asked made it impossible to say no. Not that he would have, anyways; the golden fish was as enduring as it was mystical.

"Of course," Link said, sounding more nervous than he'd meant to. He tried to smile to make up for it, but that didn't end up working either.

The sea-horse didn't seem to notice, smiling broadly again. "Thank you!" he exclaimed. "I'm sure you can do it."

"Yeah," Link commented, gulping as he turned to face the dark abyss again. _Eggs, sea snakes, and a captive friend... that's all_? He closed his eyes and exhaled; this would be his last task before finally being able to reach the temple. He hoped. So he had that to keep him going.

Link's feet stepped on the cool rock of the ledge, and then he walked off.

He allowed himself to float downwards, looking up to see the light beginning to fade. The golden sea-horse was waiting, watching him descend. The rock walls continued growing taller and taller as he fell, and he noticed, out of the darkness, that a mine would occasionally float by, a handful having made their way into the abyss.

About a quarter of the way through his descent, Link passed a hole in the side of the chasm. He looked into it curiously as he floated down, beginning to hug that side of the circular Pinnacle Rock. However, a pair of green eyes opened up, meeting his own. The eyes shot out towards him, and Link found that he reacted too late.

A wet, moist mouth closed over him, capturing his bright Zora body easily among the darkness he was in. He was flung back and forth, the lips eventually releasing him. Link spiraled away, turning to see what had attacked him. It was hard to make out in the darkness, except for the green eyes. A long, slender body had protruded itself from the hole and attacked him: a sea snake.

It now remained outside of its hole, wiggling its head back and forth, as if taunting him. Link lifted his arms just in front of himself, and then he released the sharp fins on each one. Both of them flew through the water, spinning to slice through the sea snake from either side. The creature let out a wail of defeat, and then was dead.

The spinning fins began to return to him, but before they did, he was grabbed once more. This sea snake more viciously attacked him than the last, savagely flinging him to and fro. He tried to writhe himself free, but his fins saved him from having to do so. They sliced through this sea snake as well while returning to him, and when its mouth slackened, Link swam from its grip, the natural boomerangs returning to his arms.

He began to continue his way down quicker now, still not having seen any signs of a sea-horse or a Zora egg. He did spot a mine, making sure to keep his distance. The bottom was near, however. But he also saw a myriad of even more sea snake holes.

Another shot out, but this time he was ready. Link swam out-of-the-way, narrowly avoiding the mine he almost backed into. A fourth one grabbed him from behind, though, and the third one began grabbing him, too, the sea snakes wrestling for either half of him and seeming incapable of compromising. Link screamed, his body strained passed its limits as the wet lips closed around him, tossing him like a rag doll.

The mine continued to come dangerously close to him each time he squirmed, Link not daring to wriggle too much to free himself. He brought his Zora legs up and caused the sea snake attached to them to go with them. He turned it in the mine's direction, knocking the sea snake into it.

The explosion was massive. The third sea snake was immediately obliterated, and the blast sent Link hurtling backward, out of the mouth of the fourth one. He slammed against the wall of Pinnacle Rock, his head hitting a sharp edge. Link then limply fell towards the bottom of the abyss, his head ringing.

Through his blurred vision, he saw the sea snake that had survived the explosion writhing an agony. Link hit the bottom lightly, now completely submerged in the darkness. He raised his head slowly to find himself having landed next to something small and greenish white: a Zora egg. Link raised it even more, it still dizzy, to see two others scattered nearby in the sandy bottom. He struggled to get to his feet, but not before he saw another pair of green eyes. This time they were level with the bottom. The eggs were in between him and the sea snake.

"_No!_" Link called out. He used the last of his strength to push himself off of the ground straight towards the sea snake, who was also leaping from its hole, mouth wide open. Link managed to come in between it and the eggs, swimming directly into the sea snake's mouth. The creature stopped after this, not having expected it. It remained there awkwardly choking for a handful of seconds, and then the Zora exploded out of it, sharp fins raised outward.

The beast was dead, and Link swam out from inside it, now covered in sea snake innards. Link, panting, landed on the bottom once more, walking over to the eggs and beginning to scoop them into his arms. He looked up to see that the sea snake injured by the mine was already beginning to die, its face now massacred.

Just before Link got to his feet, he turned to see something small and golden flying out of the nest of the last sea snake he had killed. The sea horse swam up ahead of him, towards the top, from which he'd come. Link followed suit, the journey to the top much more difficult given the eggs in his arms and how tired he now was, but he was eager to leave the darkness behind, not wanting to fight anymore snakes.

The light from above grew brighter and larger, following the sea-horse out. Eventually, he landed on the rock ledge he had leapt from, half falling onto it. He watched the two sea horses grow ecstatic at the sight of one another. They nuzzled their heads together lovingly, turning to face the exhausted Zora who had reunited them. He was now covered in a minimal amount of sea snake guts, the water having taken care of most of it.

"Thank you, Link," the original sea-horse said, his snout once again in the odd smile-like thing it did. The sea horse next to the first also had his snout in a similar fashion, both clearly appreciative of his assistance. "I offer you my deepest gratitude."

Link nodded his head. "I'm glad I could help. Thank you for leading me out here."

The sea horses then turned to face one another, leaning their heads together as they began to swim off into the distance, infatuated and content. Link smiled to himself, at seeing them together.

It was the first happy ending he had seen in a while.

* * *

Link climbed onto the first of the wooden platforms, the three Zora eggs still in his arms.

"Are you sure you should be carrying those like that?" Tatl asked, appearing concerned. "What happened to the bottles?"

Link, still out of breath, began climbing the ladder to the research hut. "Just have... to deliver them...," Link said, struggling to reach the top with the eggs but eventually making it. He then walked over to the door, pausing to look at his fairy before opening it.

"You okay?"

"Sea snakes... are annoying little bastards."

Tatl nodded her head slowly in agreement. "I can see that. You still have some annoying little bastard on your left arm, by the way." Link turned to see a strip of pink flesh lying on it. He smiled, turning back to the door.

"I'll make sure to freshen up before tomorrow."

"I would hope so," the fairy commented. "You smell disgusting."

He opened the door and walked inside. The professor looked up to see the Zora and his fairy, smiling broadly. "Oh, you finally came? I've been waiting for you. What about the eggs...? Hurry! Put them in that aquarium." Link obliged but didn't say anything, walking to the large fish tank taking up half of the building. He noted the four Zora eggs he had already placed in there were sitting at the bottom, appearing healthier than the ones he held.

He climbed the ladder and walked to the top, placing each egg individually in between the bars. They gently sank to bottom, joining their brethren and finally all together. The seven Zora eggs had been reunited.

"Good," the professor commented, beginning to talk excitedly before Link had even had a chance to climb down. "All of the eggs have been brought together. It's going to start. Quick! Come to the front of the aquarium!"

Link climbed back down from the ladder, hardly willing to protest and still breathing heavily.

"Oh my," the professor commented, on noticing Link's state. "Here, take this." He drew a chair out from under his desk, placing it next to Link in front of the tank. He practically collapsed into it, leaning back and allowing his head to drop.

Tatl flew to float right next to Link. She then looked back at the eggs that were simply sitting there, albeit much less feeble appearing. "So... what exactly is supposed to happen?"

"Just wait! And watch!" The professor was smiling widely, standing next to the two of them as they stared at the motionless eggs.

"What... are they gonna grow legs and start dancing?"

"Maybe."

Tatl looked at the professor in disbelief, eyebrow raised.

Then, the eggs began to shake. The professor ecstatically pointed his finger in that direction, and Tatl joined him in looking at the tank.

The seven eggs were still resting at the bottom of the tank, trembling ever so slightly. Mere seconds later, one by one, the soft outer shells were lashed at from within. They gave way with little provocation, the eggs themselves falling apart to reveal the animals within. They were shaded exactly as Zora's were and had the same coal black eyes, but the similarities ended at the point. These miniature Zoras looked quite similar to tadpoles. They were small balls with a large tail sticking up and erect in the back.

Each of the baby Zoras began to wriggle as soon as it freed itself from the eggs, individually rising up to be higher in the tank. They each seemed to stop at very specific heights, with the bars leading into and out of the tank in the background. The babies wiggled in place excitedly, wagging their tales to and fro, black eyes blinking as they took in the new world around them. They simply remained in place, wobbling in the odd way that they were, as if they had been born to perform this very simple action.

Tatl's mouth was agape as she stared at the mechanical behavior of the babies, Zora Link not understanding their movements any better. "L-look at this!" the professor shouted, practically jumping up and down in excitement. "What does this mean... What in the world could this mean?"

"I don't know. You're the expert," Tatl answered, after a moment of silence to accept what was happening in front of her. "It's basically exactly what I said was going to happen. Except they're not using legs to dance."

"... I've got it!" the professor exclaimed, not taking the fairy's comment into account. "Don't you understand? The way these Zora children have lined up... It means..." The scientist trailed off, smiling ecclesiastically at the babies. The old man walked up to the glass and pressed his face against it, practically laughing.

"... Means what?!" the fairy exclaimed. "You can't leave us hanging like that!"

Eventually, the professor tore his face away from the tank and seemed concerned, looking at the Zora and his fairy. "You... Don't you have some kind of instrument?" Link and Tatl exchanged a glance, turning back to the professor with looks of concern on each of their faces. The old man merely continued looking at them, almost pleadingly.

When the boy turned to the babies next, he understood. They were making music notes. The tadpole-like fish had their orbicular heads shaped specifically in between the railings in the background, and their different heights stood for different notes on the staff those rails made. Tatl made the same revelation, and knew what Link was going to ask before he did.

"... It's up to you," the fairy stated.

Link sighed, turning to look at the professor. "How do you feel about magic?"

"Magic?" the old man asked, a wry smile appearing on his lips. "There's no such thing. Everything has a scientific explanation."

Link smirked, shaking his head as he stood out of the chair and turned to the tank. "Yeah. About that..." He paused for a moment longer, before reaching up to his face and removing the mask. He was instantaneously a kid again, still void of the green hat he had lost cycles ago. The professor gasped, backing into his equipment table. Tatl couldn't help but smile at his reaction, watching as Link pulled out his ocarina and began to observe the notes the fish were making.

He closed his eyes, put the instrument to his lips, and began to play it. Tatl listened closely to the song that began to roll forth, turning to see the professor approaching interestedly himself, after the shock over Link's transformation abated.

The Zoras seemed to realize the song was being played and began to dance even more excitedly. After Link had looped the short song multiple times, the fish turned to face him. When Link stopped playing, he saw they were all staring at him, equally enthralled. Then – they disbanded, beginning to swim around the tank freely and on their own accord, observing the world they had just been born into.

"That!" the professor exclaimed, hopping again. "Yes, it's that song!"

"... You're a little late on that," the fairy commented.

"No!" the old man shouted in retaliation, Link turning to face him. "If these Zoras were born to teach this song, then hurry! You must play this song for the Zora who laid these eggs!"

Link nodded, smiling to himself when he realized the accomplishment they had just made. _Lulu_. Finding the eggs had worked. When he played the song for Lulu, surely it would bring her voice back and save the band. "Thank you," the boy clothed in green said, nodding his head. "For all of your help."

"Of course," the professor said, still rubbing his hands together in glee. "The Zoras are always of special interest to me." He paused, however, smiling widely at Link as he looked at him in a new way. "... Are you sure you don't want to tell me your story? It's not every day I meet a boy who can transform between a Zora and a boy. You were the boy who came in here earlier today... I remember you."

"Not just a Zora, but... I wish we could," Link answered. "We have a tight schedule to abide by. That now includes playing this song for those babies' mother."

The scientist nodded his head, appearing to understand. "Very well. I trust that what you're up to is for the better."

"Even if I'm using magic instead of science?"

The old man laughed. "I find magic to be a cheater's word," he explained, turning back to his table. "You'll find everything can be explained, one way or another."

"Thank you!" Tatl agreed excitedly, flying up to him. "Someone else who shares my affinity for truth and knowledge."

"Yes. I actually have a theory... I call it the Minitoid Theory."

"The what?" Tatl asked, already beginning to feel dismayed and regretting her decision to agree with him.

"You see, I think that everything in the universe can be reduced to single, miniscule units that cannot be divided any further. The basic building blocks for all mass in the universe. I call these particles Minitoids!"

"Yeah... okay," Tatl commented, allowing the cynicism to drip through in her voice. "I'm... gonna go now." She went to join Link, the two of them approaching the door.

"Oh!" the old man called, causing them to turn back one more time. "I think I have a name for that song of yours. The 'New Wave Bossa Nova'!"

"Yeah, thanks again," Tatl said, rolling her eyes as they exited the research lab.

"You know, it takes quite a bit to impress you," Link observed, as he descended the ladder to the second wooden platform. "You hate pretty much everybody we end up meeting."

"That's not true!" the fairy retaliated. "It's not my fault that almost everyone in the world is an idiot... except for me. And you." Link smiled at this, pulling the Zora mask back out of his bag and looking at it. "So we're going to play the song for Lulu? And then what? While I'm really happy we'll be saving the Indigo-Go's... how does this help us to get to the temple?"

"I don't know," Link replied. "One step at a time."

"There's also the fact that their main guitarist is dead, and they don't know that yet... Which is a little awkward."

"After I save the temple," Link said, going to put the mask on.

"Wait!" Link stopped. "Don't you want to keep your ocarina out for that? You're going to have to play it for Lulu."

"No," he answered. "I don't think that'd work. Then they'd know I'm not Mikau. I think that I should try to play it on his guitar."

The fairy didn't seem to buy that, smiling. "... Are there musical talents you've kept hidden from me, fairy boy?"

"No. But it can't be that hard to learn how to play it- right?" He placed the mask over his face, and was once again taking the form of Mikau.

* * *

The Skull Kid stood like a statue. He stared ahead with the orange eyes of Majora's Mask, its gaze relentlessly cutting through the downpour of snow. He stood beside a massive cliff, its rocky descent leading off into a foggy oblivion. The white curtain fell as thick as a waterfall, the imps feet buried in the snow. The mountainous landscape was jagged and rough, the ravine just beside him equally steep. The sun had set long ago, the night already almost bleeding into the second day. Though the clouds and storm hid the sky from view. All one knew below was desolation.

A shadow could be seen approaching them from the distance. One might have expected new features to present themselves as its journey continued, but they never did. It was simply a being of darkness, with red eyes. Its weapons were sheathed, and it trudged through the snow to close the last of the space between them.

The Skull Kid merely stared, wooden and real eyes never wavering from the creature approaching them from afar. The sound of the storm was vicious, singing through the air with its chilly, sharp voice, stinging those below. The shadow's boots crunched in the frozen water beneath its feet.

Eventually, they were face to face. The shadow simply stopped moving, now standing motionless and waiting. The imp stared with hatred etched into every line in his face. His fists were balled by his side.

"Do you realize you have failed me?"

The wind was howling.

"_**Yes.**_"

"And do you accept that you must be punished?"

It shrieked as it brought with it a fury of snow.

"_**Yes.**_"

"Then you understand the severity of your crime," the Skull Kid said, his expression never softening. "You understand that you have made yourself useless."

_**Stop**_. This was not the shadow, but the mask. It spoke to him now, the shadow unable to hear the voice of Majora and merely staring blankly. _**You have lost your place. End this foolishness immediately.**_

"And I have made up my mind," the Skull Kid said, ignoring Majora. "There's no place for failure among my ranks."

Silence.

Only the winter storm.

No one spoke. Until the shadow took a step forward, opening its mouth. "_**Master**_..."

The imp interrupted him, flinging his hand into the demon's chest. The shadow's eyes shot open widely, mouth agape as its dark exterior was penetrated. "_You're too weak to be trusted with this power!_" the imp shouted, his voice hysterical.

_**Stop. Stop now. Stop this immediately.**_ Majora's voice was laced with contempt, ringing in the imp's head darkly and loudly. But the Skull Kid did not relent, keeping his hand within the shadow Majora had created.

"_This time, I'm taking all of it back! No one can be more powerful than me!_" He pulled his hand slowly and painfully from within the demon's chest, bringing out something he had seen before: a thick, purple substance encased around his fingers. The shadow's eyes went from red to purple. And it began to scream. Or maybe it was Majora screaming. The dark voices rang in his head as the imp began to pull the fusion of dark and light magic out of his servant.

_**YOU FOOLISH CHILD.**_

The screaming. The howling of the snow.

He pulled his hand further and further out, struggling to remove all the magic. And then, the burning began, just as it had with the boy. Except this time, he was expecting it.

_**I WILL DESTROY YOU.**_

This time, he tried to ignore the pain. This time, he gritted his teeth and suffered through it as he continued pulling the curse out. But Majora and the shadow were suffering as well. Their mind's were connected as one, as the intensity of the pain reverberated between them.

_**NO ONE DEFIES MAJORA.**_

It seared between them, a hot dagger driven into their stomachs, the burning steel frying their innards as the light tried to overpower the dark. The imp then joined in with the screaming, the dark voices loud in his head and the pain surreal.

The Skull Kid, with one last, mighty effort, ripped his hand out of the shadow's chest. The dark substance was flung into the air in its entirety, at which point it was carried away with the wind, blowing apart and dissolving with the snow.

The shadow's eyes instantly became red, and its mind was no longer connected with theirs. The force of the Skull Kid tearing his hand free sent the demon stumbling towards the cliff. Its eyes were wide and red in shock as it lost its balance, and then tumbled over the edge. It reached out a hand to grab onto the something, but there was nothing but air. The shadow disappeared into the fog.

The Skull Kid collapsed into the snow, hardly noticing the shadow fall. His hand went to his stomach, screaming at the pain that still surged within him. _**YOU RAT. YOU PEASANT. YOU HAVE DESTROYED MY SERVANT. YOU HAVE DESTROYED OUR WEAPON.**_

"_No... shut up! Shut up!_" the Skull Kid screamed, the dark voice shrieking. Majora was in pain, too. Just like him. He knew it. The mixture of dark and light was Majora's weakness. And the boy had it within him, too. That's why Majora wanted the shadow to keep it... as a weapon... but the shadow was too strong... stronger than the imp... he couldn't let the shadow take his place... But Majora was now scared... Scared that it could hurt so much... That's why it was yelling...

_**YOU WILL OBEY. YOU WILL SUBMIT. YOU WILL LET ME CONTROL YOU. MY POWER IS ABSOLUTE. SUBMIT OR DIE.**_

The Skull Kid sobbed now, hysterical as his hands trembled and the voices didn't stop. _Make it end... make it end..._

_**YOU INSECT. JUMP OFF THE CLIFF. NOW. YOU ARE NOTHING. FREE THE WORLD OF THE BURDEN THAT YOU ARE.**_

"_Please...,_" he trembled even further. The imp tried to rise to his feet but collapsed back into the snow.

_**YOUR FRIENDS LEFT YOU. NO ONE WANTS YOU. KILL YOURSELF. KILL YOURSELF NOW.**_

"_NO!_"

The Skull grabbed Majora's Mask and flung it off of his face. The dark mask spun through the air, landing nearby in the white powder. The imp then ran blindly into the storm as fast as he could, crying, shaking, and trembling as the pain still racked his body.

Majora's Mask was left behind in the snow.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Santiago: Thanks! This was the first item Link has received from a chest in this story (I think), so it was a perfect opportunity. And yes! I make sure all of the new elements I include work in some way with the old; "untapped" potential is what I saw in the story when playing the game. As great as it is.


	47. The Imposter

_Chapter 47: The Imposter_

Tatl lied on the grass bridge, looking at her reflection in the water running underneath it. She heard the Zora behind her plucking wrong notes on his guitar. He was also lying down, but in the main section of the room, next to his roommate's drum set. He appeared to be the famous Zora guitarist, Mikau, of the Indigo-Go's. However, the Hero of Time had never played a guitar in his life.

"Do you even remember the song?" Tatl asked, annoyed as she rolled over on her back, staring up at the ceiling in boredom.

"I never forget a song," Link responded defensively, plucking a string and wincing at the resulting sound. The guitar was a rather large fish skeleton, about half the length of his Zora body. The strings were taut across it like any other one, though he was quite unsure how it was acoustically possible to get the same noise out of fish bones. Regardless, it worked, and was renowned in the Zora community. The only problem was his minimal success finding the notes to the Zora babies' song.

"It doesn't sound like it," the fairy commented, her wings absently flapping up and down. "Wasn't it only like seven notes?"

"Yeah, but seven notes on a guitar is a little different from an ocarina," he replied, finally finding the right pitch again. He smiled, playing four of the notes; Tatl smiled excitedly, springing up. But her smile faded when the fifth note was incorrect.

She moaned. "What happened to that 'tight schedule' we were abiding by? The one you told the professor we had? We've been sitting here for hours. It's really, really late."

"I just told him that because I didn't want to sit around and explain our entire story," Link explained. "It's a pretty long, complicated, and confusing one. Besides... we do have an actual time table. But we have more wiggle room in this cycle, since we already have most everything figured out."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but we have no idea how to get to the temple. Unless Lulu is going to let us climb onto her back and ride her like an eagle over the ocean. I could get to the temple just fine, but you have yet to turn a creature with _wings_ into a mask." She paused, looking off as soon as she'd said that. "Which actually... wouldn't be a bad idea..."

"Maybe when we go to the canyon, we'll stumble upon a dying dragon," Link said, smiling at the idea as he plucked at the guitar more. "Then I could heal it, and just eat Majora's Mask in my dragon form."

"Hey, I'm being serious over here! If we could strategically do this whole mask-turning/healing thing, then we could really have an advantage over everyone else."

Link's smile faded, and he let his arms fall from the guitar for a moment. He gulped, now appearing solemn as he began to strum out more notes. "Strategically turning people into masks... that sounds like someone else. Someone who I don't intend on becoming." He played the first four notes again, failing once more at the fifth.

Tatl opened her mouth again, but stopped herself from speaking. _You're becoming more like him than you realize_, she thought to herself. _You killed seven pirates to get the eggs. Just like the mask salesman killed Zelda to bring you here. I'm sure they had lovers, too._ Tatl was shocked by the thought that ran through her mind, however, appalled she'd even made the comparison. She shook her head, blinking dazedly. "Do you think you'll be able to finish the song?" She decided it would be best to change the subject. Bringing up the mask salesman was the one sore spot she found discussion could never lead peacefully.

"Yeah," Link responded. Then they remained in silence, Tatl going back to lay on the bridge as Link played on the guitar.

The bedroom door was opened minutes later, though. The overweight Zora who shared the room with Mikau entered, his face beaming at the sight of him. "Mikau!" Tatl flew up from the bridge, looking at the roommate as if he was an intruder, shocked. "... And your cousin."

Tatl didn't respond, her cheeks flushing red.

"Hi, Tijo," Link said, awkwardly standing up with the guitar by his side.

"You don't have to act all weird," Tijo said, smile fading as he began to walk to join Link on his side. "I'm not expecting you to let me in on your secret plot to help Lulu."

Link merely watched as Tijo sat behind his drum set, flipping through sheets of music laying beside it. "... Sorry," Link commented.

"Don't be," Tijo replied, though there was a slight edge to his response. Link and Tatl, after a moment of silence, looked at one another nervously. Tijo messed with his drums and pretended they weren't there.

Eventually, Link decided it was safe, and he sank back down to sit again, bringing the guitar up and strumming at it. The fairy floated back to the ground slowly herself, trying her best to appear as if she was relaxing again but constantly keeping herself alert.

The awkwardness continued for a while longer. Link strummed the notes out on his guitar, Tatl lied there uncomfortably, and Tijo messed with his drums. The drummer soon looked up from the drums, though, and squinted at the Zora he thought was Mikau. "What are you playing?" he asked. "You keep repeating the same four notes. Did you forget the others?"

"... New Wave Bossa Nova," Link responded, the name the professor gave it suddenly coming to his head. "And yeah. I'm trying to remember the rest of them."

"Who wrote it? Evan? I don't think I've heard it before."

"No, I did," he said, realizing that implied he had forgotten his own song too late. "I just can't remember how the last bit goes."

He nodded his head, turning back to his drums. More time passed, and Link found the fifth and sixth notes. Tatl grew excited every time another new note was discovered, but she restrained herself from expressing it.

Link, as soon as he found the penultimate note, stopped playing the guitar, looking off as his brow furrowed, apparently troubled by some thought. Moments later, Tatl watched his mouth uncertainly open, before he spoke.

"Tijo." The drummer looked up at Link halfway, still invested in his set with the other half. Tatl froze. _Uh-oh._ "Lulu's lost her eggs." The Zora stopped what he was doing, turning back to Link uncertainly. "That's what Evan and I were up to – trying to find them. Which I did. They're currently in the professor's laboratory on the shore near the entrance to Great Bay. When the eggs hatched, they taught me a song, and I think if I play it for Lulu, she'll get her voice back. That's the song I'm trying to remember. … And the fairy helped me sneak into the Pirates' Fortress to find the eggs, since she knew it better than me."

Tijo took a moment to respond, processing what he was saying. Tatl sighed with relief, happy that he hadn't decided to rip his mask off dramatically, as he had with the professor. "I'm really glad you told me that, Mikau," Tijo eventually stated, smiling. "And I'm glad you found the eggs. I can see why you wouldn't want everyone to know that. You'll go play the song for Lulu as soon as you remember it?"

"Yep," Link responded, smiling as he turned back to his guitar. A few minutes passed, far less awkward than the before, and he found the seventh note. Link rose to his feet, and Tatl flew up excitedly. He went to the door, and Tijo smiled at him as he grabbed the exit.

"Thanks for letting me know, Mikau. I won't let Evan know you told me."

"Of course," Link said, exiting the room with the guitar in hand and closing the door behind him. Tatl flew up to him immediately, an inch from his face.

"I almost had a heart attack," she stated. "That was _so _uncomfortable."

"Yeah, but now it'll be a little less tense whenever we have to return to our room."

"Good point," the fairy commented, as they began walking around the hall. "I really thought you were going to take your mask off there for a moment."

"Don't be ridiculous," Link commented.

"It's not really that far-fetched," she replied, the two of them heading towards the small outcrop of land.

* * *

Lulu was still standing in the same spot. Her hands were clasped at her chest as she stared off into space, the deep sadness present in her eyes. Link stepped out onto the small landmass, looking to see Great Bay Temple still far off into the distance, the storm cloud raging around it. Tatl flew out and looked sadly at Lulu, glancing at the mysterious island with two palm trees. It appeared just as out of place as it had before, simply sitting there a few feet off of the landmass. The ocean stretched on in every direction otherwise, Zora Hall at their back. The night was very late, she noticed, the sky a very deep, dark color, the stars shining over the sea.

Link approached Lulu slowly, guitar in hand and disguised as Mikau. He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't, turning to see Tatl floating next to him, her expression concerned. Link then sighed, bringing the guitar up to himself. He turned to look at the island, the temple far off, and then the hall before deciding to strum the notes.

Lulu never looked up, merely staring at the ground as the notes of the New Wave Bossa Nova were played. The first run through was incorrectly done, Tatl slightly worried. The fairy noticed that the female Zora still seemed to be paying them absolutely no attention. Despite this, Link tried again. And again.

Eventually, he got the notes right, and Tatl noticed he seemed to be entering a sort of groove with it, playing the notes and looping the song repeatedly. He appeared he had almost forgotten the intent of it, lost in the music and smiling to himself. Tatl, at first distracted by Link, immediately looked over when she saw Lulu lift her head. It was the first sign of movement she had ever seen from her.

Lulu, head now raised, seemed slightly confused, reacting to the song. Upon another looping of it, however, her eyes went wide, and she stumbled backwards, managing to catch herself and appearing dazed. The beautiful, female Zora, long delicate fins gently blowing in the sea breeze, brought her hands up to her head, holding it now as she groaned.

"Hey!" Tatl called, Link snapping up from his guitar playing and noticing Lulu as well. She seemed to have exited whatever sad trance she was in, her face now expressing confusion rather than depression. Link wasn't sure how to react, freezing mid-guitar strum and looking up at Lulu.

She slowly turned to look at the Zora and the fairy, her nicely decorated dress hardly moving and form-fitting. She raised her eyes, the dark black ones finding his own. Her mouth opened, lips quivering as her hands went down to her side, no longer holding them over her chest. Link lowered his guitar, standing across from her.

"Mikau?" she inquired, looking at him in confusion. Her eyes found the fairy, and then looked around at where they were. "What's going on?" Her voice was beautiful and sweet. Link could tell just from those simple words that she had a majestic voice. The words, as confused as they were, were soothingly stated, Link finding the tone of her voice alluring. "... And my voice... what happened to me?"

Link, after a moment of Lulu being confused, finally smiled, taking a step forward. "Lulu," he began. "It's so great to hear your voice. And it's going to take a long time for me to explain, but..." Unexpectedly, Lulu took a step forward, causing Link to stop talking. Then, she looked up at him again, her eyes filled with something else.

Lulu closed all of the personal space left, putting her hands delicately on his shoulders. "Mikau," she stated, smiling now as she looked up at him, eyes shining, their faces hardly an inch apart. "I missed you so much." Link wasn't sure how to react, awkwardly keeping his hands by his sides, guitar still in hand.

"Uh..." Lulu interrupted him by placing her lips on his. Link's eyes shot wide open, the lips of the Zora wet and leathery. Tatl gasped. Her mouth curved into a wide smile, unable to believe what had just happened and immensely entertained.

Link instinctively reacted by pushing her away, Lulu letting go of his shoulders and looking at him confusedly. "Mikau... what's wrong?"

"I... uh...," Link began, backing away uncertainly, avoiding eye contact with her as he felt his cheeks light up. "... You... I..." Lulu looked concerned, taking another step back from him and bringing her hands back up to her chest.

"Mikau?"

"Did Lulu just talk?" This voice came from the doorway. Link turned his head, in desperation to find some scape goat or explanation, to see the bandleader. He stood tall, his broad shoulders giving them the authoritative air he always had, in spite of his soft form. "Did you find the eggs?" The bandleader quickly noticed the confusion in the air, however, turning his inquiry elsewhere. "... Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Link finally stammered.

"What aren't you telling me?" Lulu asked, stepping forward. "Mikau, is something wrong?"

"No!" he suddenly exclaimed, trying to overcome his shock to find a moment to think. "I just..."

Suddenly, he wasn't at Zora Hall at all. He was in Snowhead. Link's hand was stuck in side of Dark Link's chest, whose head was thrown back and whose eyes were bright purple. _I will rip it all the way out of you,_ he thought to himself. _I will destroy you before you take my place!_ He was eager, so eager and intent on ripping the magic out of him.

_**YOU FOOLISH CHILD.**_

Majora's voice rang in his ears, it screaming darkly as the shadow did, too. He was all three of them at once... He felt Majora's anger... the shadow's fear... the Skull Kid's determination... and, most clearly, the pain that all of them felt. The burning. The burning became quite intense. But he would pull it out. He had to pull all of it out. The purple began to encase his fingers.

_**I WILL DESTROY YOU.**_ _**NO ONE DEFIES MAJORA.**_

He had to do it. This was his last chance to ever ensure that he remained the servant of Majora, and himself alone. With one last, mighty effort, he ripped his hands out of the shadow's chest. And instantly, the connection was severed.

Link was suddenly in Great Bay again. He collapsed, the Zora mask spiraling off of his face and coming to land feet in front of him. The boy struggled to rise to his feet, his body racked with pain, the soothing sound of the ocean jarring as it replaced the harsh, winter storm. The voices were no longer in his head, it empty and numb.

Link, once he had gotten to one knee, heard Lulu scream. Evan was holding her protectively, having come in between them. The two stood, horrified, as far away from him on the landmass as they could, at the water's edge. Link's eyes went to see the Zora mask laying in front of him, and his heart sank. Tatl flew by his side swiftly. "Link, are you okay?!"

Link didn't answer, breathing in and out heavily as the soreness in his chest remained. He shakily rose to his feet, looking down to see that the ground immediately surrounding him was scorched black. He turned back to see the two trembling Zoras before him, Tatl looking at them with equal concern.

"I... I... I can explain," Link began, his voice trembling.

"_Wh... wh-who are you?! Mikau... Where's Mikau?!_" Lulu screamed. "_Wh-what are you?!_" Evan held her protectively, looking at Link sternly.

"I'm sorry... I'm not the one who killed him..." His mind was so far away, so distracted. The kiss... what he'd seen... the pain... he just needed to go somewhere. He had to be alone and think.

"_Mikau's... dead?!_"

"N-n-no... I mean..." Link stopped, suddenly looking at the Zora mask intently. He grabbed it, turning and running for Zora Hall, disappearing inside.

"Link!" Tatl called out, going to follow him, but stopping herself. She turned, instead, to the two shivering Zoras, mouths open and eyes shimmering.

* * *

Link ran into his room, slamming the door behind him. Tijo immediately looked up from his drum set, looking curiously at the blonde-haired, green-clothed boy. "Who are you?" he asked. Then he saw that he was panting, eyes somewhat wild. The drummer's eyes went to the Zora mask in his hand, and he stood up from his drums nervously. "... You okay?"

"Tijo, you have to listen to me," Link explained, beginning to walk towards him.

"Explain what? How do you know my name?" He remained standing by his drum set, watching the boy wearily and realizing he had no where to go.

"I came here to help your people. The Zoras. I'm trying to free Great Bay from its curse. Which is one step on the path to stopping the moon from falling." Tijo simply stared at him, as Link came closer, crossing the grass bridge. "I've been Mikau in disguise this entire day. I... I... found Mikau on the beach, but he was already dying. It was too late to save him. So I... I turned him into a mask, and used him as a disguise so I could figure out how to help you guys."

"What in the name of Farore are you talking about?" Tijo asked, as Link stopped just in front of his drum set. "You're crazy!"

Link opened his mouth to say more, but he instead looked down at the Zora mask in his hands. He sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Tijo never averting his alarmed gaze. Link placed the mask over his face and turned into Mikau.

Tijo gasped, stumbling back into the wall and managing to catch himself before he fell. "Y-y-you..."

"I was telling the truth," Link said, stepping forward. He saw the black mark on his chest, looking down to see that it had grown even more. While it was not yet as dark and intense as in his human and Deku forms, it was close. Tijo wasn't sure what to say, his mouth wavering but unable to produce words. He was in shock. Link simply waited, trying to give him the most genuine look he could. "Please."

And so, he waited. Link, while he never looked away from Tijo, took the time to recuperate. His mind finally accepted that the dark voices were no longer there, and he told himself to wait and think about what he had seen until it was just he and Tatl.

As Tijo's breathing regulated itself, he brought himself off of the wall, when he seemed to have decided that he was no longer in danger. The drummer looked off, thinking long and hard for a moment, before he turned back to Link. "So, Mikau... he's... dead?"

Link, noting the sad way the Zora looked at him, sighed with the heavy burden of the story he now had to tell.

* * *

"But his eyes... th-they turned purple! He shot _fire_ out of his hands!" Lulu protested, having let go of Evan and now standing beside him. The two of them had calmed down significantly, no longer in absolute terror over the boy who had almost killed them.

"I know!" Tatl responded. "But that's not his fault!" The waves still crashed against the landmass behind them, in the clear, dark night. The palm trees on the nearby island rocked in the gentle wind. "The Skull Kid shot that dark magic inside of him, and occasionally it takes over him."

"Who's the Skull Kid, again?" Lulu asked. "This is all... all so much. Why should we believe anything you're saying?"

"Because we saved your eggs and got your voice back," the fairy answered. "And we're not even asking you for a favor. We're just asking that you let us _save_ you. We have a plan to stop the moon from falling. And as terrible as Link looked when the dark magic took over him, that's the main proof I have for you that something needs to be done! The Skull Kid will corrupt everybody, if we don't stop him."

Lulu and Evan remained standing in the silence that followed, exchanging a worried glance with one another. Tatl gulped, trying her best to appear calm despite the fact that she should could only think of Link. Was he okay? Had the dark magic taken ahold of him again and caused him to slay the Zoras in the hall? _No, don't think that. He's fine_. She felt her primary objective should be to make sure the Zoras were still their friends, first.

"Could we see this boy? This Link?" Evan stepped forward, passing Lulu, and approached the fairy.

"... Yes," she said, her voice tighter than she had intended it. Truthfully, all she wanted to do was be alone with Link. She knew he must have seen something from the Skull Kid's perspective, and given how furious the purple-eyed Zora had been, she wasn't sure she would be happy to hear the news. "He'll tell you everything I did. All we want to do is go to Great Bay Temple and lift the curse. That's it."

"Let us talk to Link first," Evan stated, looking to see Lulu nod her head in agreement. "Before we agree to anything."

_Agree to what? With or without your permission we're going to that temple_. She kept this thought to herself, however, sighing when she realized how smoothly things had been going just moments ago. Knowing their track record, she should have anticipated everything falling to pieces sooner or later. "Of course."

"So Mikau really is dead?" Lulu's voice was shaky, having summoned quite a bit of courage before finally asking this question.

Tatl turned to her solemnly. "I'm sorry. There wasn't anything we could do. The pirates killed him when he tried to rescue your eggs." Lulu looked down sadly, not appearing capable of fully comprehending what the fairy was saying. "But we healed him, before he died. The ocarina we have is magical." The word stung her tongue as she spoke it, but she decided this explanation would be best, as Lulu now looked up with hopeful eyes. "His soul was at peace when it moved on. And healing him – healing his soul – gave us the mask."

Lulu didn't seem sure how to respond to the news, merely staring off. Evan lead her by the shoulder forward. "I want to talk to Link," he stated, not appearing interested in anything else Tatl had to say. The fairy was almost taken back, but before she could react, Evan let go of Lulu's shoulder as he bent over.

The Zora's hand went to his chest, and his expression tightened as his fingers groped where his heart was. He was bending in pain, stumbling forward slightly as his teeth barred down and his eyes squeezed shut. Lulu caught him before he fell, Evan shrugging her off as he got back to his feet, exhaling deeply and looking worried as his arms dropped back to his side. "Are you okay?" Lulu asked.

"I'm fine," Evan responded, his voice tense. "It's nothing. I get bad chest pain."

The fairy only responded with an inquisitive glance, watching as Evan didn't make eye contact with her as he walked into Zora Hall. Lulu uncertainly followed, leaving the fairy to choose whether or not she wanted to join them. She decided it wasn't her place to press the matter and followed.

* * *

The snow and wind were still howling, flecks of white beating mercilessly upon the soft blanket covering the rocky terrain. The sharp, jagged surface was obscured by the powder that only brought death; no warmth was found within its crystal folds. The night was waning, the fingers of a new day beginning to caress the sharp points of Snowhead. The light spilled over the shiny surface of snow, over a world still very much shrouded in darkness.

The mask lay in the snow, a layer of frost collected on its purple surface. The orange eyes stared into the sky menacingly, appearing almost alive. Half of it was covered in snow, the other half exposed to the cold air, the sheer wall it rested beside providing minimal shelter. The shelter ended at the cliff, however, the cliff that descended into fogginess. The footsteps of the one who had tumbled over its edge were almost filled to the brim with snow again.

Nothing stirred, in the wintery landscape. Only the weather and elements shrieked in the early morning, no other animals there to bring life to the desolation.

A black hand shot out from the fog, grabbing onto the snowy ledge. The shadow pulled itself out of the abyss, red eyes bright against the mountainous world surrounding it. The creature pulled the rest of itself upward, collapsing onto the snow in exhaustion, finally completing its journey. Scrapes, scratches, and wounds covered the shadow, but already they had begun to heal, having spilt no blood. Even the hole in its chest had almost vanished, though the magic within was gone. Its connection to the mask, the imp, and the boy had been severed. The dark magic no longer flowed through the demon's body.

Its crimson eyes looked around as it stumbled through the snow and wind, appearing lost and uncertain. It had no commands. It did not know the fate of its master. It had no way of talking to its master, as it could no longer reach within itself and turn its eyes violet. Eventually, it found something laying in the snow, up against the mountain wall.

The shadow walked towards it, weapons still sheathed. It lifted the mask from the snow, brushing off the frost that had collected on its surface. The shadow held it in its hands, staring into the eyes of Majora. It blinked, beholding the dark mask in its glory.

Then, it slowly began to rise the mask to its face.

_**No**_.

The voice spoke just before the mask was placed over its eyes. The shadow lowered it, looking back into the orange orbs. Majora had spoken. The voice was in its mind, yes, but it had spoken. This was the first time it had ever happened. Only the imp had spoken before now.

_**You are a worthy and dutiful servant, but you are no longer the magical weapon I desire.**_ The shadow merely continued staring at the mask. _**I've devised a new plan.**_ The shadow did not respond, listening to the voices in its head.

_**The imp will return to me. But he has proven himself useless. When he returns, I will lead him to the boy, so that the hero can dispose of him. Then, you will kill the boy. Once they are both dead, you will find me again, and become the new bearer of the mask. And together we will cleanse Termina forever.**_

The shadow waited and listened, before speaking. _**"What am I to do until then? I could kill the imp when he returns to grab the mask.**_" Its voice was dark, as dark as the mask's.

_**No. Let the boy kill him. Let the boy think he has won. Wait, watch, follow, and listen. You are still tethered to the cycles and will go back in time with the rest of us. The imp is not to know you survived, and neither is the boy. But once the imp is dead, you will continue in his place as my assassin, and then will have earned the right to possess my power.**_ The shadow tightened his fingers around the edge of the mask, the cold air bellowing forth frost.

_**The imp was never your master. I am your master. You must no longer refer to him as such.**_

"_**I never followed an order from the imp**_," the shadow explained. "_**I only obey you.**_"

* * *

Lulu wasn't sure how to feel, as she slowly walked alongside the path circling the beautiful clam. The waterfall cascaded into the pool elegantly from behind its shining surface, but it felt different, somehow. It felt empty and base, the beauty now dead. Her feet padded on the cool ground below her, her gaze empty as she stared down, hands clasped over her chest. Her heart ached, feeling like a heavy stone.

Evan walked in front of her steadily, head raised, the strange white fairy flying beside them. She turned to Evan, watching him as he walked ahead. Something was off about him, but she wasn't able to pin-point it, exactly. How could she blame him, though? One moment she had been happy, finally freed from whatever curse that had bound her, and now her world had been turned upside down.

The strange fairy had spoken her words and told the tale of Mikau's death, but none of it seemed real. The last thing she could clearly remember were the pirates that had robbed her bedroom. In the middle of the night, her eggs had been taken.

She had been half-asleep, unable to rest. Her voice had been gone for days, vanishing along with the clarity of the water in Great Bay. A curse seemed to have fallen over herself and the whole land. The pirate with the two scimitars had woken her, blades gleaming in the moonlight. She had tried to fight back, but they had taken the eggs and left her lying on the floor, unconscious. The next day, she had told Mikau everything she had been hiding from him. Her voice. The eggs. She had known he would try to do something stupid, but she hadn't been able to stop him.

And now he was gone... with no body for her to mourn.

Evan opened the door to Mikau's room, and the three of them stepped inside. The boy was sitting across the room with Tijo, the two talking when they looked up to see them entering. Her eyes hardly lingered on the boy, going to Tijo. The drummer must have acknowledged her deep sadness, the expression on his face just as grim.

"Tijo," Lulu stated, the name hardly coming out.

Tijo smiled weakly, his large, full face brightening slightly. "Lulu. It's so great to hear your voice." Lulu smiled faintly, the fairy flying past her and going to the boy. He had blonde hair and wore a green tunic still, though his eyes were much more bearable when they shone blue.

"Link! Are you okay?" the fairy asked, appearing worried.

"I'm fine," he responded, the two turning to note the two Zoras still standing in the doorway.

Lulu stepped inside, but Evan remained at the door. "We need to talk," he stated, his eyes firm as he looked past her to the two foreigners.

"He's cool, Evan," Tijo stated, as Lulu joined him on the other side of the room, sitting down near him. "He's not going to hurt us."

"You didn't see the purple eyes and the fire that came out of his hands," Evan replied cooly. Tijo seemed slightly disheartened by that, turning to the boy before looking back at his bandleader. Lulu watched uncertainly, once again put off by the odd way Evan was acting.

"No, but he told me about it," Tijo responded. "I don't think he meant to hurt anybody." The female Zora looked to see how nervous the boy appeared, but her eyes caught something else. There was a familiar face, fashioned into a mask, in his hand. She stared into Mikau's eyes, hardly noticing what those around her were saying.

When the boy stood, she was snapped out of her trance, and realized she had zoned out. The fairy noticed her staring at the mask, but pretended she hadn't. Lulu looked away uncertainly, trying her best to fight back tears. "I promise, I don't mean any harm," Evan said from the doorway. "I just want to talk."

The boy and the fairy exchanged a glance before crossing the grass bridge. The foreigners followed Evan out the door, the strangely clad boy and the equally strange fairy closing it behind them. Lulu was now alone with Tijo.

She didn't look to him, remaining seated on the floor. She drew her legs up close to her and stared off, not even noticing as her mouth still hung slightly agape. Lulu stared off for the longest time, thinking about Mikau's face, frozen in the boy's hand.

She thought about Mikau's lips on hers, before he'd back away, confused. Then Mikau's eyes had turned purple, face contorted into the darkest expression of fury she had ever seen. She had screamed, as the fire had threatened to burn her, the fairy's face horror stricken as she flew out of the path of the fire. Evan ran to her aid, pulling her away from the fire towards the edge of the water. They had almost tumbled over the edge and plummeted into the ocean, before the fire had suddenly stopped. Mikau's face fell off, clattering to the floor, revealing a boy she had never seen before.

She remembered how terrified she had been... How confused she had been when she had kissed him... How the fairy had told her the strange story that she still didn't quite understand... Her mind swam with the memory of those scimitars glowing in the moonlight, threatening to cut open her throat if she didn't obey...

A hand lightly touched her shoulder. Lulu looked up to see Tijo, the fat Zora smiling as he sat down beside her. He pulled her gently to rest her head on his shoulder, and Lulu willingly obeyed, as she began to cry once again.

"Mikau is the mask now?" She wasn't sure if it had been a question or a statement.

"I guess so." His voice was shaking too, but he appeared able to hold back tears.

"The fairy said they healed him. They said they set his soul free."

"The boy said the same thing."

She began to cry harder as she stared off blankly. "Mikau was going to ask me to marry him. We talked about it a lot."

"I know. Mikau told me, too. I kept bugging him to finally ask you, but... I guess he never did."

Lulu smiled, her voice heavy with the tears as she spoke again. "Do you think everything they're saying is true?"

"Yeah," Tijo answered. "I think so. They wouldn't have gotten your eggs back if they wanted to hurt us."

Lulu nodded her head in agreement slowly, still resting it on Tijo's soft shoulder. "What now?"

"I guess we hope he can save us, and hope that he really is a hero. That moon keeps getting scarier every day."

Lulu sniffled, wiping tears away. "I want to believe he can save us."

"Me too."

"But I also want to believe he's lying, and that Mikau's still alive." Tijo responded by pulling Lulu closer, holding her tightly. His embrace was warm and comforting.

"... My eggs are back," she said. "And they hatched. I want to see them. Maybe they look like Mikau."

Tijo smiled. "I'd bet at least half of them do." The Zoras remained sitting on the ground, together.

* * *

Evan closed the door behind himself once they were in his room.

"Your fairy tells me that you're a hero," the bandleader stated, walking away from the door and looking off as he talked to them.

"Yes," Link answered, looking uncertainly at his fairy as the conversation continued.

"And that you can't control whatever dark magic takes over your body?"

The boy felt he was treading on dangerous water, and Tatl shared his sentiment. "... We're just here to help."

"I know," Evan replied, turning back to face them. "You helped bring back the Zora eggs. It's just that the Great Bay Temple is a sacred place – for all of us. It's frightening to let a stranger enter it... especially one with dark magic."

"Look, I've been in the temples at Woodfall and Snowhead already. I freed both of those lands, and I can do the same thing here. I promise." _I promise._ Tatl's stomach churned. She wished Link would stop making promises.

"That may be, but – I want to go with you for this one." Link was taken back at first, not quite sure how to respond. "It would probably help to have someone that knows the temple well. And you'd be putting the minds of the Zoras at ease."

"... I don't think you realize how dangerous it's going to be," Tatl interjected, responding before Link did and flying down to be in the conversation. "We almost died in Woodfall – more than once. And I assume Link almost died in Snowhead too... I wasn't there for that one... but they're always crawling with monsters. We'd hate to be responsible for someone else."

"I'd be more help than you think," Evan responded. "Please. If you're going to save us Zora people, than I want to play a part in it. I feel helpless standing by while you two are out there, and... I want to make sure. I want to make sure everything is safe."

He knew that last comment was directed at them – two strangers who were about to enter their temple and defile it. Link tried his best to not take it was an insult, even though Evan hadn't meant it that way. He thought about it for a moment, putting himself in the shoes of this Zora. A boy who had been under the guise of one of his best friends had recently been exposed as an imposter, and one that breathed fire with glowing purple eyes occasionally. While Link had proven his good intentions, he still had been caught lying. A very big lie, at that.

"Only if you're prepared for what's going to lie ahead," Link answered. "It's not going to be easy, and there won't be any turning back until we've slain the monster inside. The Skull Kid has trapped all of the guardian spirits into evil masks, and the demons that patrol these temples now aren't easy to kill. I barely managed to defeat the last two, and I don't imagine this one will be any easier." Link remembered Odolwa and Goht, and knew he'd been within an inch of his life both times.

Tatl appeared to disagree immediately, but she held her tongue. Evan smiled. "Of course. I understand it won't be easy, but I need to step in as protector of the Zora people, now that... now that Mikau's gone."

Link nodded his head, not looking at his fairy just yet. "We're going to leave tomorrow morning. It's already pretty late, so we might as well wait until then. Make sure you're ready to leave by then. We'll... try to figure out a way to the temple."

Evan seemed content with the decision, and Link and Tatl left the room.

"No," Tatl said immediately, after the door had been closed behind them, and they were in the hall again. "No, no, no."

"Tatl..."

"No, we can't bring him along! He'll get in the way... he'll probably die... and I don't want you to have to constantly protect him. We'll be putting ourselves in more danger, too."

"He's a Zora, and this is the Zora temple. I think he'll be better off than you think. And besides, I'm happy that's his only stipulation. We did just get caught pretending to be Mikau. If this had happened in Goron Village, I can't even imagine..."

"Yeah, I guess," Tatl replied. "But still. I don't like it."

"Me neither, but I'm not sure what else we can do." Link and Tatl looked around, noticing that they were the only ones in the hall. The waterfalls still ran, but the other Zoras appeared to have retired to their rooms, unaware of the drama that had just occurred.

Link, decided he would leave Lulu and Tijo alone for the time being, sat by the edge of the water as Tatl joined him.

"So... do you have any idea why that happened?"

"Yes," Link responded, taking a moment afterwards to collect the right words. "Skull Kid turned on Dark Link. He had his hand inside of his chest, and was pulling the dark magic out... like he did with me. Except this time, he managed to pull all of it out, even though it burned." He paused, remembering the anger and fear he had felt while he had been the imp.

"Does that mean Dark Link can't turn his eyes purple and shoot fire anymore?"

Link nodded his head. "If it didn't kill him, which it might have. Dark Link seemed really afraid. But... _Majora_ was afraid, too. That was the scary part. I guess it's a good thing, when I think about it now, but when I was the Skull Kid... I felt his fear. Part of him wanted to obey Majora, but the other part – the part that was afraid that Dark Link would replace him – won. I felt the pain too. It really hurt my scar." Link's hand went to his chest, the burnt skin hiding underneath his tunic. "Whatever used to be inside of Dark Link, and what's still in me, really hurts Majora."

Tatl took a minute to take all of it in. "You think that's the key to stopping it?"

"I don't know," Link replied. "But Tatl... I felt Majora's pain. When he was hurt, I was too." Tatl looked over to see that the boy's eyes were welling with tears. The fairy was shocked, rising in the air as if to do something, but unsure what could be done. "I know I said I was willing to go down with Majora if I had to, that night when Anju... but... I didn't..." He stopped, his mouth quivering. "... I don't want to die, Tatl."

Link stared out at the water, looking at his own reflection, his eyes watery in the shimmering surface. He remembered Anju's eyes, and how empty they had been. He remembered Zelda's, too, and the first Tatl lying lifelessly on his Deku chest. And he remembered Navi, her neck snapped out of place by the mask salesman. He had seen so much death... and when he had been Majora, the mask had legitimately thought the magic in Dark Link would kill him. If hurting Majora hurt him, then did that mean they were bound together – permanently?

"You're not going to die, Link," Tatl said, finally, floating down to be on his shoulder. "We'll find a way. There's always a way. I... I promise." _Now I've done it too_, the fairy thought, just before she got the words out. She thought she finally understood why Link made all of the promises he did. It was all they could do, in a world that seemed so desolate: hope. "Maybe the Skull Kid can rip the magic out of you too, and you won't be connected anymore. All the way this time. He owes us a favor or two." Link smiled, looking up at Tatl to see her return it. "I know things look hopeless a lot, Link, but I've known you for... what'd we figure out, like twenty days or something? … but it feels like it's been a lifetime. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you never give up, and you always find a way.

"We'll finish Majora together. One day. Sooner, rather than later, and after that, we'll be okay. We'll all be okay."

Link looked up to Tatl, smiling, his eyes still watery. "Thanks Tatl," he replied.

"And if the Skull Kid really took out Dark Link, then that's one less thing we have to worry about," Tatl said. "We're already half way there. We just need to hold on for a little bit longer."

* * *

Link, Tatl, Evan, and Lulu stood on the small patch of land behind Zora Hall. The island with the two palm trees still sat there, the storm cloud swirling around the distant temple. The sky was cloudy, but the sun had risen hours ago. Midday was still far off, however, the second day of the cycle still young.

Link was freshly awake, his sword and shield tightly latched behind him. His bag was heavy with the various weapons and utensils acquired over the course of his journey. It all fit snuggly, and was once again across his shoulder by his side. His blonde hair was exposed to the Great Bay sky, his hat long lost. His fairy was just beside him, and he felt that the third adventure was nearing its climax.

Lulu held her hands in front of her chest, while Evan stood beside her strongly. "Are you sure you have to go?" Lulu asked Evan.

"Yes," he replied. "I have to make sure we're safe."

"That's fine and dandy and all," Tatl began, "but we still have no freakin' clue how to get there. Swimming and flying are no-go's given the murky water and your lack of wings... so..."

"Don't worry, Tatl," Link replied. "Like you said, I always have a plan."

Tatl looked to her side, eyebrow raised as she saw the boy remove his ocarina. Link brought it up to his lips, remembering how it aided him in entering countless temples before. He closed his eyes and swayed as the New Wave Bossa Nova flowed forth.

Lulu looked up at the sound of the song, soothed by it as she had been before. Evan didn't seem phased, looking out to see if it was doing anything. Tatl merely smiled as she watched him play the song with his eyes closed.

Her smiled faded when the ground began to shake. The fairy spun to the left, noticing that the small island had begun to tremble terribly. The palm trees were shaking back and forth, the island sending tremors into the temple as the water around it began to stir. Link stopped playing his ocarina and noticed the change himself, as Lulu and Tijo stood worriedly beside him.

The island turned out not to be an island at all.

A great, green head lifted out of the water, its eyes dark and black, as a tail and fins equally as massive rose from opposite ends of the island. It was a giant animal, one that had drawn itself into a rock, island-like shell. The green fins, tail, and head were the true body, and its audience collectively identified it as one particular animal: a turtle. The island was its shell, the great head now protruding from the front hole, having been awakened by the song.

The fins moved in long, great strides as it turned its body, making sure to face those before it. The two Zoras, boy, and fairy stood in awe, staring up at the great being before them. The turtle threw its head back and yawned extraordinarily, the voice echoing out deeply.

"I slept quite well!" the turtle exclaimed, its voice as commanding and awe-inspiring as its size and appearance. The palm trees on his back still swayed back and forth. "I just realized this when I opened my eyes. This passing of days is quite quick. Isn't it, Lulu?"

Lulu was too shocked to respond, taking a step back and blinking dazedly.

"Yes, Lulu. It's nothing to be surprised at. Although my eyes were closed in sleep, I still see everything that occurs in this ocean..." The turtle paused, however, his expression appearing to not understand her reaction. "Hmmm. It seems Lulu is confused."

"... Lulu is confused?!" Tatl suddenly exclaimed, overcoming her shock. The great turtle blinked heavily, turning his gaze to her. "I expected the song to... I don't know... rise a temple out of the water or create a magic bridge... not awaken a giant turtle! Who are you, and why were you just sleeping there?!"

"Regrettably, there is no time for idle conversation," the turtle interrupted, though he did smile at the fairy's outburst. The turtle, instead of answering questions, began to use his fins to turn himself around again. "Now then, proud warrior... The open seas of Great Bay have need of your might. Quickly. Climb onto my back."

Link and Tatl exchanged a glance, the disbelief between them apparent. "Well...," Link finally said. "... How convenient." He turned to Evan. "Are you ready to go?"

Evan forced himself to look down from the mighty turtle to Link, nodding his head uncertainly. "A giant turtle...," Tatl commented. "I said there was something suspicious about that island, didn't I?! This is crazy."

"Evan," Lulu called out, as the bandleader had begun to walk to join the boy and fairy. He turned, the female Zora having temporarily recovered from the shock of the turtle. "You'll be careful, won't you? I don't want to lose you, too."

"Of course," Evan said, nodding his head and smiling to reassure her.

"And Link." Lulu walked up to the boy herself. "I'm sorry for kissing you."

Link's face reddened instantly, forcing himself to retain eye contact nonetheless. Tatl smirked beside him. "It's okay. I'm sorry I lied. To all of you. I was just trying my best to help you all. I never meant to hurt anybody."

"It's okay," Lulu said, smiling softly. "Thank you for helping us. And I wish you the best of luck on your journey."

Link looked away, as if grappling with something. Then, he came to a conclusion. Link reached into his bag and pulled out the Zora mask, holding it front of himself. "I want you to have this."

Tatl opened her mouth in shock, gasping at his stupidity.

"What?" Lulu asked, uncertain.

"I want you to have what is left of Mikau," Link responded. "Part of him is sealed in here, and it's not right for me to have it."

Lulu looked at the mask longingly, reaching out a hand to take it. She stopped herself, however, bringing the hand back to her side. "I can't. Mikau's gone now, and you need this more than I do. I need to come to terms with the fact that he's not coming back."

Link, at first, almost protested, but upon further reflection, especially after taking into account the fairy's glares, he nodded his head, putting the mask back into his bag.

"Why so slow?" the turtle asked, his long neck craned back to look at the four people behind him. "Hurry up and fire your hookshot into the palm tree on my back, Link." The boy was taken back, turning away from Lulu with an eyebrow raised. "Heh, heh, heh. Of course I know your name. Didn't I say that all is seen by me?"

Link dismissed the comment, giving a final nod to Lulu and turning to Evan. "Are you sure about this? There's no turning back once we're on his back."

"I'm sure," Evan stated. "I need to make sure Zora Hall can be in peace once again."

Link removed his hookshot, wrapping his arm around Evan as he aimed his weapon at the palm tree. "Then off we go." Lulu took a step back, still watching as the pointed end fired from his contraption and latched itself into one of the two palm trees.

The chain was strong enough to pull them both onto the turtle's back, zipping through the air over the short distance of water. They landed on the grass collected on the rather large surface of the shell. The two of them were puny on the back of such a massive creature.

Tatl flew to join them, as the turtle turned itself away from Zora Hall and headed for the temple in the distance. It's powerful fins propelled them forward, Link and Evan managing to maintain their balance. Large amounts of water lapped onto the shore, a wave crashing down on the patch of land they had left behind. The turtle swam forward above the water, the sea air strong against him.

Lulu watched at the shoreline. The massive creature grew smaller on the horizon, as Link, Tatl, and Evan disappeared all together.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Guest (4/14): Haha, well I'm glad I was able to surprise you! Hopefully I have a few more plot twists in store that will catch you off-guard. And, I'll have to answer all of those questions in the chapters to come! Even though the one above answered a handful. Though with Tael... he died, remember? In the one cycle that Link brought him out of his usual routine. So, currently, Tael is doing what does when he gets no interaction from those "above" the time travel. His has been revealed, over the course of the chapters given, to be doing as follows: he goes to the clock tower, discovers Skull Kid is not there, goes to Snowhead to find him, makes his way to the cave, and goes inside. No other information has been given. So, it can be assumed that he either dies trying to reach the imp in the cave, or eventually is too scared to continue going through and leaves. Either way, his path has yet to cross any of the other major characters since the Snowhead arc. Those mountains are a rather vast territory.

EDLDS3.14159: Thank you so much! And maybe I'll go back and look at my description of Zora boomerang fins again. But I'm humbled to have my writing described as "magic," and hope you enjoy what's to come. I'm glad you enjoyed "New Wave Bossa Nova!"

Guest (4/22): Thank you! Glad to have you hooked; I hope you enjoyed the next chapter than I managed to find time to "roll forth!"

Quill: Haha, which is rather unfortunate for Link! I've been busy too, so I understand. And yes. So many moving parts. Now is the time to introduce everything I have left to tell, though (for the most part, not counting Ikana specific plots), because in the very future... the time for build will be over. Climax after climax after climax! How exciting! I'm really excited to tie everything together, and I hope you're just as excited to read it.


	48. Skull Kid Alone

Note: This chapter was a lot of fun to write. It's different - but I think it turned out well.

"We have chosen to guard the people while we sleep. 100 steps north, 100 steps south, 100 steps east, 100 steps west... Now then, there was one who was shocked and saddened by all this. A little imp." - Anju's Grandmother, from _The Four Giants_

* * *

_Chapter 48: Skull Kid Alone_

He stumbled forward blindly without a mask.

The imp was still in awe as his legs mechanically and awkwardly sent him forward. The mountain walls sloped high into the air on either side of him, their surfaces jagged and rough. The pathway cut deep into the valley, the snow beginning to lessen as the downpour of wintery weather abated. The sun continued climbing towards its zenith, disappearing constantly behind the dotted, cloudy sky, casting shadows upon the mountainous land below.

The Skull Kid's face was dark, with little, yellow eyes and a beak-like mouth. His face was small and innocent, and the way he half-fell down the pathway highlighted his childish persona. His arms swung loosely by his sides, aloof. The imp's mind was blank as he trudged onward, not a single thought capable of presenting itself in his mind. He was still sore, especially in his brain, which was still in shock. He felt naked.

The Skull Kid stumbled out of the pathway into a wide, flat clearing. A building was in the distance, the tall wooden cabin resting just across from a cave. The imp walked to cross the clearing, in the same goofy manner. He felt ten times heavier, and had tried to fly on multiple occasions only to fail miserably.

Movement felt so awkward without Majora's Mask.

The Skull Kid noticed a sign deeming the lodge the Mountain Smithy. He paused once he was in front of it, turning to face it fully. He stared at it for a solid thirty minutes. Then he started walking again, swinging his arms in the air as if they were long, rubbery snakes.

The imp entered the path's continuation, once again bordered by sheer rock walls on either side. He stopped when he reached a ledge, realizing he would have to climb down in order to keep going.

The Skull Kid sighed, turning around and beginning to work his way down. "Where am I going?" he asked. No one answered him, though. He was alone now, for the first time in a very long time. "Where am I going?" he asked again. Still, there was no response. "Where do you want me to go?" He continued climbing down the wall and asking his questions, but no one responded.

He plopped to the bottom once he was far enough down, and saw the rest of the trail widening through the remainder of his descent. "_Where do you want me to go?!_" he yelled.

A scream answered him. The Skull Kid's head instantly shot towards its source. It came from further down the path, off to the right. He began running now, the goofiness eradicated from his step. Running still felt awkward, but he tried his best to ignore it. The scream cried out again, and the imp stopped, realizing it was coming from below. The pathway turned into a wide, icy bridge, and underneath was a deep gorge surrounded by sharp, rocky walls. The imp stopped, bending down on his knees and looking underneath the strip of land.

A wagon was lying at the bottom. It was in ruins, but he could still read "The Smiths" stitched into the tarp. The shattered wood was everywhere, and he saw the bloodied body of an adult male lying motionlessly in a very awkward position. The corpse of a horse was there as well, and a tektite seemed to have decided to break his fast with it.

He caught movement elsewhere, however, the imp noticing that a small girl was caught underneath one of the wheels. The wreckage blocked most of her from his view, but her movement gave her a way as she struggled against the weight of the debris. She had stopped screaming. He wondered if the tektite had looked up at her threateningly to silence her.

The girl was pale and small, shrunken and weak as she tried to free herself from her family's destroyed caravan. The tektite's long legs had plunged into the horse meat, its single red eye drawn close to the meal as it hungrily devoured the flesh. The girl panted and struggled, but she was unable to free herself. The imp knew the monster would kill her after it was full of horse meat. Assuming other tektites didn't arrive to challenge him, which the Skull Kid thought was a strong possibility.

The little girl, her long brown hair matted and dirty, looked up and noticed the imp staring down at her. "_Help!_" she called out, her voice high-pitched. She could not have been older than six. Her dress was covered in dirt and blood, appearing torn and weathered. Her eyes were wide, blue, and pretty, though the skin underneath them was dark from crying and exhaustion.

The imp cocked his head to side like a child, looking at the little girl curiously. The situation was so interesting, he found. He wanted to watch and find out what would happen. "What do I do?" he asked. The mask wasn't there to tell him.

"_Help me!_" she cried out. The tektite looked up from its meal, the angry red eye finding the little girl. It seemed to be annoyed she hadn't followed its warning. It took a tentative step towards her, debating whether or not walking all the way over there to kill her was worth it. The girl noticed, trying to scoot out of the wood in vain. "_Please._" She cried desperately once more, but turned her attention away from the imp when he did nothing.

The tektite had made up its mind, and it was now scurrying towards her. "_No! Papa, help! Papa!_" The only other human in the ditch was dead, though. "_No!_" The tektite stood in front of the helpless girl and raised its pointed leg to kill her.

The Skull Kid drove a piece of wood into its soft underbelly, blood squirting everywhere. The girl lowered the arm she'd risen to protect herself. The imp had jumped into the ditch and grabbed a piece of the wreckage. It proved sharp enough to pierce the monster. The tektite turned away form its prey and lashed out at the new threat, but the Skull Kid dodged it gracefully. Years of dancing through the woods had begun to return to him, now that he no longer had the magic of the mask.

The Skull Kid stepped further underneath the tektite, rather than away, in order to grab the piece of wood wedged within it. He yanked it free, the tektite shuddering as blood poured forth like a dam bursting. Its legs cradled inward as it backed away, stiffening. It found enough strength to try and attack again, but before it could, the Skull Kid drove the piece of wood into its eye. The beast died, rolling over on its back and curling its legs together.

The girl panted heavily, looking at the imp in frayed clothing that approached her. Its clothes were yellow and orange, a strange, witch-like hat on his head. He looked like a child. The Skull Kid tried to lift the wheel off the girl, but it was heavy and wedged in with the rest of the debris. "... You saved me," the girl said, weakly. She was now covered in the tektite's blood too, as was the imp.

The Skull Kid, as he lifted the wheel, tried to remember why he had saved her. He had asked the mask what to do, but it hadn't been able to answer him. So, instead, he listened to himself. Something inside of him had told him to save the girl, but he wasn't sure what it was. The imp pushed the wheel away with one final tug, the girl's body now free.

The little girl winced in pain, backing away from the debris to lie against the nearby rock wall. Still sitting, she looked at her skinny legs, her elegant white dress torn and ruined. Her legs were bruised, scraped and purpled in various places. However, her attention was directed towards her stomach, where she shakily looked down. There was a piece of wood wedged deep within, the skin around it bright red. It was impossible to tell how long the shard was, but it was acting as a small dagger that had been plunged within.

The girl shakily looked back up at the imp. "It hurts," she stated weakly. Her eyes shone, but her skin was so pale. The Skull Kid walked over and lifted her into his arms. She was very easy to carry, as light as she was, and he met no resistance. The girl clung to him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder.

The Skull Kid climbed the wall of the ditch until he was on the path. He continued walking to complete his journey out of Snowhead.

"I can't feel my fingers," she said, a tear rolling down her check as she nuzzled her head on the imp.

"Clock Town can help you," he said resolutely. The imp walked towards the village with the injured girl in his arms, the moon hovering dangerously over the town in the center of Termina. It was close, with only forty-four hours remaining.

* * *

_- Many Years Ago -_

The Skull Kid waited from behind the tree.

He peered around its trunk sneakily, secretly watching the man walk down the forest path. The man had a hood thrown over his head, the trees casting a shadow over all those underneath its canopy. The Woods of Mystery were the Skull Kid's speciality though, and he was always excited when a stranger wondered through.

He turned around, back against the tree and giggling to himself. He took in a deep breath, still smiling as he prepared for attack. The Skull Kid scaled the tree like a monkey, jumping from branch to branch until he was well ahead of the traveler. Then, the small forest child fell from above, crashing on top of the man below.

He fell to the ground with an "_Oomph!_" The Skull scrambled off of him and laughed delightfully, the hood falling down as the man laid in the dirt road. The imp clapped his hands together excitedly, as the man began to sit up, grabbing his head and moaning.

"Hehe, I got you!" the imp exclaimed happily. The man's robe was a very dark green, the hood having revealed a man with very sharp features. His hair was solid white, eyes bright and piercing green. Despite his hair color, however, he bore no wrinkles on his face. The short, slender man in the dark green robe looked up at the imp with his deep eyes, a smile curling onto his lips. His skin was light brown, and the imp was excited at the prospect of meeting a foreigner from a distant land.

"Be glad you caught me in a good mood, skull child," he said, the Skull Kid still smiling as he offered a hand to lift the man to his feet. The imp noticed a bright green medallion pinning his cloak together around his neck. It was a deep, forest green, much like the leaves on the trees surrounding them. Their hands wrapped around each others, and the man stood, brushing himself off. "What compelled you to knock down a strange man like myself?"

"It's fun!" the Skull Kid exclaimed, backflipping onto his hands and bouncing off of his palms a few times. He landed back onto his feet, smiling. "And I like meeting interesting strangers. What's your name?"

"Faron," he replied. "My three brothers and I are named after dragons that lived long ago."

"Dragons?!" the Skull Kid exclaimed, his smile fading as his eyes widened eagerly. "Here, in Termina?"

"No, we're from a distant realm. We're not of this world."

The imp's eyes widened even more, as small as they were, dotting his black, innocent face. "What's that world called?!"

"Hyrule."

He smiled, looking back and forth cautiously, as if to make sure no one else was interesting. He wanted to keep this stranger to himself. "... Can I come with you? Can you tell me all about Hyrule, and these dragons?" He paused, looking down the trail before turning back excitedly. "Are you going to Oakridge?"

"Yes, I am," the mysterious, white-haired man answered. "But this Woodfall is proving quite difficult to travel through. My other brother went to Skyvale, though, on the other side of Snowhead... so I don't really have room to complain. You're more than welcome to accompany me."

The Skull leapt excitedly, calming himself when he realized Faron was merely standing there smiling at him. He straightened himself and cleared his throat, following beside the man in the green cloak. The Skull Kid forced himself to walk calmly. They walked silently for a while, Faron constantly smiling his small smile, appearing amused by the skull child.

"So what brought you to Termina?" the imp asked, repressing his excitement. "There are a lot of lands here, but I don't think I've ever met someone from another realm."

Faron's smile faded at this, his young face contrasting starkly with the white of his hair. "We brought a powerful, magical item here, and it escaped from us before we could seal it away."

"Escaped?" the imp inquired, cocking his head to the side curiously as they walked. "Why did you want to seal it away?"

"Because it's a terrible, dark thing whose magic we will never underestimate again."

"Why is it so dark and powerful?"

"Because the name that brought it into this world was a powerful one."

"What name?"

Faron smiled, shaking his head slowly. "We'd best not spread it around anymore than we have to. Saying it only gives the demon more power."

"Demon? Why would you bring a demon trapped inside of a magical item here?"

Faron laughed lightly, turning to the Skull Kid and beaming at the young forest creature. "You sure do ask a lot of questions, don't you?"

"Yeah," the imp answered. "But you're so interesting! I mean, it's not everyday I meet a stranger from a distant realm named after a dragon who brought a magical, dark item here!"

Faron nodded his head in understanding, turning back to face the road. The shadows cast by the sun from above the leaves continued dotting their faces. The smells of the forest were so rich and alive in the Skull Kid's nostrils, the sound of the wind rustling the trees harmonious. "Good point." He paused, finding the words to answer his question. "We brought the magical item here because we were afraid what it would do to all of the worlds. We sealed it into this realm so it could not destroy the other worlds. We decided this world was the perfect realm to repress its powers. But we were still afraid. So me and my three brothers came here to make sure the dark token doesn't break out... and to protect this world from it." That last comment almost sounded like it had been an afterthought, to the imp.

"Why couldn't you just seal it away in the realm you are from? Hyrule?"

"Because the magic here is powerful. Rivaling even the power of the name the demon possesses. We hoped Termina would keep it at bay, and we came here to make sure that was the case."

"And it's already escaped from you?" the imp asked, cocking his head to the side again.

Faron's face was grave. "Yes. But we don't think it will be able to wreck the havoc it did in our world. Its magical powers should be muted here." The Skull Kid looked worried, turning down to look at the path. Faron stopped walking, putting his hand on the imp's shoulder and turning him to be face-to-face. "Don't worry, skull child." He said, staring at him reassuringly with his deep, green eyes. "We will find the magical item before it can do anything horrible."

The Skull Kid, after a moment of considering, looked back up, a smile on his face again. "If you came here to guard it, and can cross over realms and seal items... then you must have magical powers, too!" Faron smiled again, letting go of the imp's shoulder and turning to face the dirt road.

He raised his hand into the air, and the emerald holding his cloak fastened glowed. The dirt in the road suddenly gave way to long, green stems. They rose from the earth and twisted into the air, curling themselves free as leaves began to sprout along the green bodies. The Skull Kid's mouth dropped in awe as flowers began to bud on their ends, and suddenly, where there had just been dirt, there was now a myriad of colors. The red, blue, and yellow flowers opened beautifully, a small garden having been born just before his eyes.

Faron lowered his hand, turning back to the Skull Kid, whose eyes shined with child-like wonder. "That's amazing!" he shouted, jumping excitedly. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Unfortunately, I can't," he said, motioning them to continue walking. "I couldn't do it either without this gem, but I can't ever let anyone else use it. I'm bound to it and it's bound to me – forever."

"That's crazy."

"All of the members of my tribe are sorcerers and witches, and we all have gems like these. Wait until you meet my three brothers. They have different powers than I do."

"Whoa! You'll really let me?"

"Of course!" the foreigner said, smiling down at the imp walking beside him. "We're friends now."

The imp smiled at that. "Are you and your brothers the only ones from Hyrule here?"

Faron's smile faded at that. "Maybe. I'm not sure. Two witches in the tribe threatened to follow us and take the item for their selves. But they'll never be able to find it. The spell we used to send the mask here stops anyone with a corrupted heart from taking it out. And the same spell managed to bring us here under protection. Those witches... if they stay here too long... will soon start forgetting who they are, or that they're from another world."

"Why?!"

"I told you. This realm has powerful magic."

The Skull Kid paused, looking off and thinking hard. "I guess I'm lucky to have been born here, then." Faron laughed at that. The imp smiled broadly. "I can't believe I have a friend now." The Skull Kid's smile was so wide, the happiness within himself boundless. "Especially one so powerful. I'm glad I attacked you."

Faron laughed again. "I'm glad you attacked me, too. You're the first friend I've made since I came here."

The Skull Kid continued smiling, looking around in wonder at the way the sun hit the leaves from behind the canopy. It was so pretty. He looked behind at the large garden flowers now far behind them. Their colors were vivid, brilliantly shining in the dotted sunlight.

* * *

The rain fell heavily, bombarding them from the bleak sky onto the equally bleak stone.

The imp walked through the hole in the chunk of ice blocking the road. Someone had hammered through a pathway, the frozen barrier cold to the touch. He passed through it to the other end, the rain falling on his hat once he had exited the tunnel in the block of ice. The girl hung in his arms limply, looking up with pale, fluttering eyelids. Her skin had somehow become chalkier; she looked like a ghost.

"_Thank you for carrying me_," she said softly, smiling as she rested on his shoulder. The rain drops glowed on her small, white cheeks.

"We're almost there," the imp said, walking down the pathway that curved into a gorge. He knew he would have to climb the giant stone wall to Termina Field, and then he would be within walking distance of Clock Town. Halfway into the gorge, he stopped, noticing the large, lizard-like creatures sleeping in the rain: dodongos. Their tails were spiked, but he knew the fire that came out of their mouths would kill them. He looked down to the girl in his arms, who seemed half-asleep. "You have to be quiet now, okay."

"_Okay_," she whispered, weakly bringing the hand that rested on her chest to her lips. "_Shhh_." The Skull Kid smiled at that, looking down at the dodongos worriedly. He walked carefully the rest of the way to the bottom of the gorge, his soft padded shoes hardly making a sound. The imp took a direct path towards the wall, walking in between two of the sleeping green giants. The girl moaned in his arms, and the Skull Kid froze.

Once a few moments had passed, and neither lizard had stirred, the imp continued. The girl hung limper and limper, her grip around his neck weakening with each step. The wood that had been driven into her stomach continued leaking blood. The bottom half of her white dress was now a dark, rich red.

The Skull Kid made it to the wall without incident, and began to climb with minimal usage of his hands. "You have to grab onto me," the imp said. The girl tried her best, summoning what strength she had left and clinging to him tightly. The Skull Kid began to walk carefully, until his foot slipped on a loose rock. He did not fall, but the pebble itself bounced down the collection of boulders, loudly clanking in the empty gorge. The dodongos instantly awoke. The one nearest to them stirred, opening its sleepy black eyes and sniffing the air, smelling blood. When it saw them hardly up the wall, it roared.

The Skull Kid turned back quickly, beginning to hop from rock to rock up the length of the gorge's wall. The girl bumped against him uncomfortably each time, one wrong jump capable of killing them both. He had no time to check before he leapt, however, trying his best to imagine the rocks as tree branches.

The dodongo bellowed a ball of fire in their direction. The Skull leapt quickly from his rock, taking only a moment to find a safer place to land. The fire landed where he had been, curling up into the air and warming the imp's back from afar. He managed to land on another rock, but haphazardly so. He almost fell, but caught his balance, leaping again immediately as another breath of fire missed him, singeing his boots.

Eventually, he leapt his last jump, and his feet met grass. The Skull Kid turned back to see another ball of fire heading directly towards his face. He ducked, and it passed overhead, the imp looking down to the see the girl was still unharmed. By the lizard, at least.

Clock Town was in sight, its Northern Gate just across the plain. The girl moaned again, her head lolling to the side as she opened her eyes. She looked off at the gray sky, the rain falling on her face, before she turned back to the imp. She smiled again, her blue eyes so youthful and pretty. "_Can we be friends?_"

The Skull Kid felt something stirring in his chest that made him want to cry. He ignored it, walking as fast as he could through the rain towards the village.

* * *

"I don't remember, Levias!" The Skull Kid grew impatient, legs drawn up to his chest as he rested his chin on his knees.

The two of them sat together on a patch of dirt in Termina Field. The gorge leading to Snowhead was just beside them, a bridge leading across it to the path that snaked upward. Snow could only be seen on the distance peaks of the mountains near Skyvale. Spring was nearing its end. The day was dark and cloudy, not a single ray of sunlight breaking through.

"Just think about it," the man stated. He had snow white hair, and his light brown face was very wrinkled and covered in a bushy, white beard. Despite that, his golden eyes fiercely glowed, shining bright against the dark gold of his cloak. The bright yellow gem holding his cloak together didn't glow as bright as it used to, the imp had begun to notice. "Concentrate."

The Skull Kid stared down at the symbol in the dirt. It was a diamond with two swirls to the top-right and bottom-left of it. "Treasure?"

"No," Levias said, shaking his head. "Wonder."

"I don't want to learn stupid symbols anymore!" the Skull Kid exclaimed, jumping to his feet and kicking the dirt. It swished over the man's drawing and erased it. Levias sighed, looking at the stick in his hand sadly. The imp was fuming, forcing himself to look away from the old man.

"I bet you remember this one, though," the old man said. The Skull Kid knew what he was drawing without even looking. The man in the golden cloak drew a crescent moon into the dirt, beginning to draw two slashing lines through it.

"I know, I know, I know!" the imp shouted, turning around. Levias didn't seem taken back, however, his face merely disappointed as he stopped drawing. "Love, friendship, happiness, blah-blah-blah! Your silly old, ancient, written language from Hyrule! Why are you acting so strange lately?! All of you!" The imp motioned towards the other three people who'd begun to approach them, crossing the bridge from Snowhead. They each wore cloaks and gems of their own, one green, one red, and one blue. All of their faces were wrinkled, and all of their heads were cropped with long white hair and beards. "And you've been getting all old lately. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen. I thought you came here under a protection spell?!"

"We did," Levias said, getting to his feet and letting the stick fall to the dirt. "But things have changed, Skull Kid. Oakridge is gone. It burnt to the ground. All of it. Have you forgotten?"

"What's Oakridge?" the imp asked, his brow furrowing into more confusion and anger.

"... What do you mean?" Levias asked, as his three brothers joined him, each looking suspiciously at the skull child.

"I mean, I've never heard of the place before! Is it from Hyrule, or some other realm?" The four brothers exchanged worried looks, and this infuriated the imp even more. "_No! Stop that!_" He stamped his feet into the dirt. He could feel them drifting away from... like all of his friends did. He couldn't lose them, too. Not them. They'd been his friends for years. It felt like forever ago that the first brother had created the garden in the pathway. It was hard to remember a time when they hadn't been apart of his life.

"We're all friends! I know you guys are brothers, but you can't cut me out like that... we've trusted each other with everything. Forever." The imp stopped, looking back to see their different colored eyes all merely staring at him. "... It's about that magical item, isn't it? That's the thing you guys refuse to talk about. No matter what."

"Skull Kid, it burnt down Oakridge. All of it. And you've already forgotten about it. We can't stop it anymore. We have to... we can't be here anymore like this... We have to..."

"_No!_" the Skull Kid said. "You're lying – all of you! I know it! Oakridge isn't even real, I bet."

"It was real," the one with red gem stated.

"Then why have I forgotten about it, huh?"

"We told you," the one with the blue gem stated. "This land has strange powers that we don't truly understa–"

"_NO!_ Not that again! That's the answer you always use."

"It's the truth."

"I don't care! You guys are leaving me, aren't you?" None of them responded, the green, blue, red, and yellow eyes looking amongst each other sadly. "... Levias? Eldin? Lanayru? None of you?" His eyes then found the green ones that had been trying to avoid his own. The green cloaked man, despite this, did not look away. "Faron?!" The Skull Kid walked up to him, so that they were an inch apart. Faron did not back down.

"You're my best friend in the whole world!" the imp yelled, beginning to feel tears running down his cheeks. "I met you first! Are you leaving me?" He found that his fists were shaking by his sides angrily.

"Skull Kid, things have changed," Faron answered calmly. His cool, sharp, green eyes looked at the imp calmly. The Skull Kid found his voice to be reassuring. He backed away, but he didn't like it. He _wanted_ to stay angry at them. "Look at our faces. They're old. We're weaker. The magical item is stronger than we thought."

"Then seal it away," he said, stepping forward again as openly cried. "Please. Do what you came here to do in the first place, so we can still be friends."

Faron appeared deeply hurt, but the Skull Kid refused to believe that. They hated him. He knew it. "We don't know how. We have to cast another protection spell, Skull Kid. … A different one. We have to sacrifice our gems and become one with this land. We have to make the four regions here just that – four separate lands."

"What?!" the imp backed away, his eyes wide in terror. "No... No! You can't. What'll become of you?"

"We'll become the true guardians of this land that we were meant to be," Faron answered calmly. "But we only have enough magic to protect Clock Town, Woodfall, Snowhead, Great Bay, and Ikana Canyon. We can't stop the magical item from destroying the other lands, but we can't let it destroy these five... or else it will escape. And destroy all the worlds. Termina is more important than we thought it was. We shouldn't have brought it here in the first place."

"_But then we would have never been friends!_" the Skull screamed now, at the top of his lungs, bringing his small, child-like eyes an inch from his wise, green ones. "_Do all these years we've spent together mean nothing to you?!_"

"No. They mean everything," Faron said, resting his hand on his shoulder, as he had all those years ago. The Skull Kid looked to the ground, shaking as he cried. "But we have a bigger responsibility to Termina. To everyone. If we don't do this, all of these lands will burn, and if Termina falls... nothing will stop the rest of the worlds from burning, too. We have to go to each of the temples and cast the powerful spell together and sacrifice our gems."

The imp shook Faron's hand off of his shoulder as he backed away, his crying beginning to slow as he sniffled now. He stared at the ground, his fists shaking, as the four sorcerers looked upon him. The Skull Kid then raised his head, his dark cheeks tear stained. He looked between the four of them again. "Will I be able to visit you?" His voice shook. He thought he already knew the answer.

"We won't be the same anymore," Faron answered. "We'll only be able to leave the temples when the land is in great danger. We left a song with the mayor of Clock Town... one that he can play to call us whenever he needs us." The other three brothers looked worried at this, though, not saying something. _ They're afraid the mayor is going to forget the song, aren't they?_ the Skull Kid thought bitterly. _Just like they think I forgot what Oakridge was. They think all of us... us Termina people are lesser than them. They don't like us. They think we're stupid. But I know they're lying._

"Can you teach me the song?" he asked, trying in vainly to hide his anger now.

"Skull Kid... we won't be the same," Faron repeated, taking a step towards him. "We'll be gods... deities... we won't be people anymore. We don't know what form we'll take, but it'll be the form we need to be for the rest of eternity. In order to protect Termina."

"_NO!_" His fists shook again, and the Skull Kid stepped right in front of Faron's face once more. "I can prove you're lying!" Faron seemed not to understand, stepping backwards. "Do you remember the garden you made... in the forest? The day we met?" Faron didn't respond. "You said those flowers would be bright, beautiful, and alive as long as our friendship was true... as long as we all still loved each other. Just like... like that symbol you always show me! With the crescent moon. Love. I bet if I go there now, the flowers will be dead." None of them responded. "I'm right, aren't I?" He still shook with rage, still crying in anguish, his eyes flaring brilliantly.

"Skull Kid, we have to do it tonight. We don't have time to..."

"_NO!_"

He shoved Faron out of the way, knocking him into the dirt and accidentally erasing the half-drawn crescent moon. Faron quickly scrambled to his feet as the imp began to run. "_Skull kid, wait!_" he called, reaching out a hand to stop him.

The Skull Kid didn't listen, however. He ran, as fast as he could towards Woodfall, tears burning down his cheeks. He refused to turn around, refused to look at those stupid men in their stupid cloaks, all standing behind him talking about him. Talking about how they were going to leave him. _I'll show them._

His feet carried him around Clock Town and into the southern swamp. His soft-padded shoes crashed through the pristine waters of Woodfall, until he began to barrel through the Woods of Mystery on the other side. The sun slowly inched across the sky as his journey continued, the day beginning to slip away as tree after tree was passed by.

The Skull Kid, running for quite a while, stopped and panted. Something was different about these woods; he could feel it. For some unknown reason, he wanted to turn around and leave. He was afraid what might lie on the other side. _I don't remember being afraid before_, he thought. What exactly had been on the other side of these woods? He couldn't remember, but he didn't want to find out.

Then he remembered why he had come here.

The imp began running again, finding the dirt path snaking to the edge of the forest. It had been overgrown and broken apart since he had last been here. The Skull Kid thought that might have been over fifty years ago. It was hard to remember things sometimes.

He almost ran passed it. The Skull Kid stopped again, turning around to see an exceptionally large collection of plant life in the center of the road. It was black, dead, and hanging limply towards the ground, so he hadn't set it apart from any of the other plants infecting the road. Though as he approached them, he recognized those petals, remembering the colorful life they had boasted so long ago.

The Skull Kid fell to his knees in front of the dead flowers. He cried silently, his small eyes wide in disbelief.

* * *

The girl's head lolled back in forth as the rain pelted her weak, pale body. She moaned, her eyes squeezed shut, the raindrops falling on her eyelids. The Skull Kid's eyes were set straight ahead, at the Northern Gate that the guard stood in front of. The Skull Kid thought the guard's placement was weird, knowing that they usually stood on the inside of Clock Town. The guard watched from underneath his drawn visor, spear in hand as the small skull child carrying the dying girl ran through the rain towards him.

The Skull Kid, upon climbing the steps to the door, made a move to enter the village, but the guard put his foot down firmly, slamming the spear in front of him. "I'm afraid I can't let you in."

The imp backed away, the girl not appearing aware of what was happening as she nuzzled her face into his shoulder. The creature and the young child were so small, the rain falling from the rim of the imp's witch-like hat. His small eyes looked up at the guard standing resolutely before him. He was tall and strong, his armor glistening in the rain and his eyes hidden behind the visor. He looked down on the two children before him with unwavering authority.

"Please," the Skull Kid said, gesturing towards the girl. Her blood strained dress and pale skin should have made it obvious they needed to enter. "She's going to die. I need to find someone to help her."

"Well, find help somewhere else," the guard responded. "I'm not admitting you to the city."

"We can't find help anywhere else," the imp said. "There's no where else to go."

"I'm under strict orders to grant no one admittance to Clock Town. Without exceptions."

"Why?"

The guard paused. "The mayor and his wife are dead. They were murdered last night, so we're under strict orders to let no one into or out of the city."

_Murdered?_ The Skull Kid didn't understand. He, the boy, the shadow, and the fairy were the only ones capable of doing anything outside of the normal string of events in the timeline. He knew for a fact none of them had been responsible, but he knew they were the only possible culprits. "How?"

"They were ripped to pieces," the guard stated. "By some dark magic. Now I'm afraid I have to ask you to turn around and leave."

The Skull Kid looked down at the girl, feeling himself beginning to shake with rage when he noticed her blue eyes open again. They shone at him hopefully. "We're not going to rip anyone to pieces! I have a dying little girl in my hands. Please."

"_I said go!_" The guard thrust the spear out at the Skull Kid. He barely avoided it, the spear's tip coming within an inch of impaling both him and the girl in his hands. The imp stared up at the guard in disbelief, but he showed him no signs of mercy.

The Skull Kid ran around the wall of Clock Town, the rain beginning to pour down harder upon them. _I have to find shelter_, he thought to himself. The girl's eyes closed again and her head bobbed. He continued running until he halfway encircled the city. He found the hollowed out log. It was the one that he had first met Tatl and Tael under.

He ran as quickly as he could towards it, the rain eventually echoing loudly from within the log as it bounced off of its roof. The imp and the girl were drenched, but the water could not reach them here. The space was very large, but it was still cold, the air rich with water. He laid the girl down gently on the grass, up against the wooden wall of the log. However, she didn't seem capable of supporting herself. The girl slid off of the wall and landed on her side limply, not even reacting to her fall.

"No, you have to sit up," the Skull Kid said. "You have to get better so we can be friends." He grabbed the little girl by her shoulders to lift her again, but her head fell forward uncomfortably. The imp laid her back against the wall, this time more carefully, but she slid off of the wall again, landing exactly as she had before.

At first, he merely stood there, staring at the girl lying on the grass. Her mouth was agape, eyes closed, her skin so pale and her dress so red. The rain pattered on the wood loudly, the only sound that broke the deathly silence from in the log. The Skull Kid's eyes were wide, his dark face blank.

"... How do I bring her back?" The rain was the only thing that answered him. "How do I bring her back?" he asked again. Still, no one was there to tell him what to do. "I was supposed to save her. How do I bring her back?" The girl lied lifelessly at his feet, the piece of wood lodged within her wet with rain and blood. "_How do I bring her back?!_"

The Skull Kid screamed this time, his fists shaking with rage. He thrust his hands out angrily beside him, and he was shocked by the purple flames that burst forth. They curled into the air and died away quickly, the imp gasping as he backed into the other side of the log. _How is that possible?_

He rose his hands in front of him, shakily observing his empty palms. He remembered when he had seen the girl lying helplessly underneath the wagon. Something inside of him had compelled him to save her. Now, he had tapped into something much differently that was inside of him, in order to produce the flames. Anger. Rage. Hatred. Apparently, some of Majora's magic was still within him.

He looked past his outstretched hands at the dead little girl. Her brown hair was still pretty, even though it was matted, dirty, and wet. Her face so innocently rested on the grass, as if she were merely asleep. The rage boiled within him again, and the imp left the girl behind, leaving the log and entering the rain. He ignored it as it pattered on his face, his body shaking furiously as he approached the Southern Gate.

The guard that saw him approaching slammed his foot and spear down before he had even climbed the steps. "Halt! I'm afraid I can't..." The Skull Kid shot his arms outward, and purple fire rushed forward. It enveloped the guard immediately, his skin aflame even from underneath the heavy metal armor. His suit began to turn red, ringing with the warmth of the fire as it became an oven, cooking the man inside of it. He screamed, dropping his spear and trying to remove his armor as quickly as he could.

He was a torch now, purple fire curling off of him. The Skull Kid watched angrily as the guard ran passed him into the rain, failing at his attempts to remove his helmet. The rain was doing nothing to put out the fire, however, the dark magic resisting it as his body continued to burn.

The screams were so bestial. The Skull Kid didn't like how terrible they sounded. Every time he pictured the dead girl, the anger returned to him, and he found more fire circling his hands.

He cast another spell at the guard, hoping to end his terrible screaming. The fire climbed into the guard's mouth and worked its way down his throat, frying him both inside and out as he screamed. He collapsed to the ground, lying limply now as his body continued to burn. The Skull Kid stared at the guard as the last of his jerky, spastic movements came to an end. Eventually, the rain was powerful enough to put out the fire, and the guard lay there black and dead.

He had avenged the girl's death. The terrible evil this man had committed could never happen again, because he was dead. _But it was the Northern guard that stopped you from entering._ Did it matter? This guard would have done the same. He walked passed the corpse and entered the log again.

He reached down to the little girl and lifted her arm, but when he let go of it, it limply returned to the ground. The Skull Kid backed away and stared at her some more. She was dead too, like the guard. With her death, her pain had ended. She could suffer no more. She was so pale... so peaceful... so pure...

The girl and guard had found purity in death. Neither one could suffer, and neither one could hurt. They were dead, and because they were dead, they were now flawless. He saw the beauty in death as he stared down at the person he'd wanted to be friends with. _It's okay though,_ he told himself. _She's even more beautiful now._ The Skull Kid listened to the rain pattering on the log, and remembered what Majora had taught him. It had tried so hard to teach him death's beauty. But he hadn't truly understood until now.

He took a step away from the girl, looking at the rain and over Clock Town. Snowhead's peaks could been seen far in the distance. If he waited any longer, the last of Majora's magic within him might fade. If he waited, his chances of begging for forgiveness would grow more futile. He turned back to the girl lying dead behind him.

"... No one can be my friend," he said sadly, a tear rolling from his eye to join the rain streaking down his face. "They all leave me. Friends are imperfect." He smiled, however, when he realized something, turning back to Snowhead again, where he knew Majora's Mask laid. "Except one friend." He began to walk towards the mountains, feeling so stupid that it had taken him this long to realize it. Majora had tried to tell him over and over again, but he had been so stupid. So weak and imperfect. He would spend the rest of his days doing what he was meant to do: serving the one friend Majora had acquainted him with most.

"Death. Death is perfect."

* * *

The Skull Kid walked into the Southern Swamp, his fists shaking by his sides. He hadn't been able to find Faron, Eldin, Lanayru, or Levias anywhere. For days he had searched, but Faron had proven true to his word. They had left that day to cast their stupid protection spell. Now all of the temples they had retired to were sealed off.

But it didn't matter. The imp had discovered a way he could summon them again.

The Skull Kid climbed the ladder to the hut sitting in the middle of the swamp. Once on its platform, he swung the door open. It crashed into the wall behind it, and a woman looked up at the intruder. She seemed a lot like the four brothers had, with their darker skin and shining eyes. Her hair was white and sticking straight up, and her face was newly wrinkled.

The imp remembered Faron mentioning two witches that had also followed them to Termina. He said they would one day forget their pasts, and who they truly were. He wondered if that was true, as she looked up more curious than frightened. He didn't really care, though. He'd come here for one thing.

The dark red gem on her forehead was glowing brightly.

"Who are you?"

The Skull Kid threw a Deku nut at her feet. There was a flash, and the witch grabbed her eyes painfully, shrieking as she backed into the other side of the hut. The imp was already upon her, grabbing the gem firmly in his hand and ripping it from her forehead.

The witch screamed terribly, her eyes wide as she collapsed to the floor. The Skull Kid watched as her face wrinkled more and more. It tightened itself up as she began to age drastically. Her skin appeared to dry as she continued to age and grow stiff, becoming mummy-like. Eventually, it stopped, and the witch lied immobile on the floor. Her breathing was harsh and rugged as she laid there, eyes staring emptily forward as she twitched ever so slightly. She didn't appear like she could move.

The Skull Kid exited the hut and hopped down into the swamp below. He took in a deep breath, holding the gem firmly in his hands as he allowed the power to course through his veins. Then, he thrust his arms forward and brilliant, red, orange fire burst forth. It was alive, massive amounts of it curling into a great wave. The imp watched in awe as the fire slammed into a nearby rock wall, completely obliterating it.

He hadn't meant for the blast to be so powerful, but he smiled.

He continued practicing firing blasts from his hands as he began his journey towards Clock Town. Each blast of fire danced in his eyes as he sent one after the other forward, smiling wickedly as the world around him burned. The townsfolk had been able to hear the fire blasts from far away, but that had done nothing to prepare them.

Buildings exploded. Stalls were destroyed. People ran and screamed. The Skull sent fire everywhere, destroying everything. None of the guards could stop him. When they tried, he scared them away with the fire, forcing them to drop their spears. "_Play your stupid song!_" the Skull Kid yelled, as he stood in the center of the South Clock Town plaza. He sent fire everywhere, the red gem in his hand glowing furiously as he destroyed. "_Call your guardians! Bring them here to protect you!_"

He stopped when he heard something. The Skull Kid turned to the sky, listening as a deep, resonating singing voice echoed throughout the plaza. He tried to find its source, but couldn't, soon noticing that it was coming from more than one source. He spun around wildly, in the center of the plaza now as the singing grew louder. The ground around him was scorched, the buildings and stalls destroyed. Only the clock tower stood unharmed, the great, ornate surface of the clock slowly turning from high above.

The Skull Kid, gem at the ready, continued turning, waiting for a guard or villager to attack... or for the guardians to arrive. Great, thundering footsteps could be heard in the distance, and the imp began to shake. This time, he shook out of fear, not anger. The footsteps grew louder and more thundering, the voices echoing as they continued to sing. His hand grew sweaty, the gem in his hand threatening to slip from his grasp. _No. Stay calm._

And then he saw them. The four giants. The faces of his former friends could hardly be found in the small balls for bodies they had, eyes small and oafish. Their legs were long and powerful, their arms equally disproportionally lengthy. Though, he did find one interesting feature in each of their faces. They were wrinkled, dried, and old, much like the witches when he ripped her gem from her forehead. The gems were no where on any of their foreheads or bodies, no longer wearing the cloaks he had grown to love. Unlike stealing the gem from the witch, however, casting their protection spell and sacrificing their gems had turned them into giants, rather than cripples.

One stood in each cardinal direction, as had been foretold to him. He turned, shaking, watching as townsfolk began to collect in the far corners of the plaza, not willing to approach the imp at its center, but feeling safer with the giants. The survivors kept their distance, looking around in awe, still dazed by the destruction that had been brought to them. The Skull Kid shook, remaining in the center by himself, red gem still glowing furiously in his hand. The imp turned, his eyes finding the giant who stood behind the southern gate.

The giant opened his mouth and sung deeply again, before closing it to speak. He wondered if they were slowly losing their ability to speak, also, as they sacrificed their individuality to be guardians. "You have tormented, destroyed, and stolen, skull child, and angered the guardians who slumber in their temples."

The Skull Kid took a moment to respond, shaking again as he stood in the shadow of the mighty four giants. Each stood outside of the town walls, but they were still massive enough to hang far over the entire city, as well as the clock tower at its center. "... y-y-you're my friends. I... I wanted to see you."

The giant merely blinked. The Skull Kid was hardly the same size as its eyeball, craning his head back as he stood before it. "We have chosen to guard the people while we sleep. 100 steps north, 100 steps south, 100 steps east, 100 steps west. You've struck terror into the hearts of the people in this town with your wickedness. In these dark times, wickedness can not be permitted in our realm. It will only send this world to its doom faster. In the name of our past friendship, we give you the option of banishment to the world between worlds. Otherwise, you will be ripped apart here and now, to end your wrath permanently."

The Skull Kid's eyes grew wide, taking a step backwards in shock. "N-n-no. We're friends... that's not what friends do. You can't kill me or banish me! _We're friends!_"

"You will return the gem to Koume. She and her sister no longer remember their reasons for entering this realm, and are no longer a threat to our cause."

The Skull Kid's mind was blind with panic. He tried to think of a solution, as he looked around. He hadn't thought far enough to think about what would happen when he summoned them. They were guarding each exit to Clock Town. There was no way out. Unless... "_No! You can't make me!_"

He threw a ball of fire into the air, the red gem glowing. It traveled towards the face of the giant, who had once been named Faron. The Skull Kid turned and ran for the clock tower. He hurried, not even looking to see if his fire ball had done any damage, the ornate, wooden doors before him. They had told him they were the bridge between worlds, made from a magical tree. Well, if that was the case, he would escape through them – no matter how much their mystery frightened him.

The giant dismissed the ball of fire lazily with his hand, it redirected to fly askew into the sky. He then raised his arms once more, palm facing the plaza below him. Grass began to shoot in between the bricks of the city, as roots, branches, and trees sprung from the ground underneath. They began to form themselves into crude people, the wooden creatures using their newly created arms and legs to reach out for the fleeing skull child.

He barely avoided the wooden grasp of the one born nearest him, leaping over its arm and barreling through the clock tower doors. He was plunged into the tower's darkness, the wooden gears turning above and below as the underground river powered the clock face. The imp ran as the wooden creatures began to follow him inside. He turned over his shoulder to see at least twenty filing in after him, long wooden legs giving them an advantage as they stretched forward swiftly, their limbs creaking.

The Skull Kid leapt over the railings and landed on the first floor, turning to see a passageway with an open doorway. He wagered it must lead deep underneath Termina. The imp raced for it, even though every fiber of his being shook and told him not to enter. But he had to. He had no where else to run. The dark red gem still burned in his hand as his feet pattered on the wet floor, the underground stream lapping up onto the stony surface. The tree people followed, growing and extending themselves down from the second story. More were continually born around him, reaching to try and stop the escapee.

The moment the Skull Kid passed through the doorway, he collapsed.

The dark red gem spun from his fingers, clattering just in front of him. He landed on his face, knocking the breath out of himself as his hand swam. The imp had passed through some invisible force, and it left his head spinning. The Skull Kid quickly got to his feet, hearing the wooden army approaching him from behind. He grabbed the red gem and felt a wooden hand grab his shoulder.

"_No!_" he screamed. The flung his hand outward, causing the wooden minion to burst into flame. He kept running, watching as the stone hallway continued opening up around him, causing plants and vines to break the stone as they formed more and more monsters. He breathed in and out heavily as he ran, hopping over each new arm that grabbed him.

The stone hallway ahead of him continued going downward. The passageway ahead of him was beautiful, flawless, and showcasing expert stonework. Behind, the plant life destroyed the hallway, breaking apart the white stone and leaving it in ruins. He continued running, bringing a path of destruction that followed him from behind.

Several minutes into his escape, a hand shot out of the stone and wrapped around his ankle. The Skull Kid screamed, falling to the ground and grasping the gem firmly. He'd felt many of the monsters approaching him from behind and wasn't prepared to risk anything. He let all fury loose, massive explosions of fire disintegrating all of the beasts around him. The hallway itself exploded, stone flying everywhere and sending the Skull Kid backwards into a wall. He hardly let the injury stop him, continuing to run, a massive chasm left behind. Tree people fell into it as they burned.

Eventually, he reached a wide open room. He began to stop running when he realized there was no where left for him to go. It was a dead end. The room was very large, the ceiling nonexistent; the grassy, dirt walls extended up into infinite blackness. Two unlit torches stood not far from him, a pond with a Deku flower in the center nearby.

The Skull Kid only took a few more steps before stopping, breathing in and out heavily as he looked around for some escape. There was none. The only way out was through the tunnel the forestry was chasing him through. He was trapped.

The Skull Kid turned to face the army that poured forth, screaming now as he shot fire in every direction. Explosions filled the room as fire licked the air, but he had hardly begun the battle before a plant was born under his feet. The tree trunk shot high into the air, sending the Skull Kid flying. He spiraled into the pond, the gem spinning from his hand to land far away. The splash of water was loud, the imp scrambling to his feet. One of the tree people collected his gem before he'd even stood.

"_No!_" the Skull Kid screamed, reaching out his hand. But another vine shot out of the ground, grabbing his wrist and forcing it back to his side. More plant life continued to do this, springing out of the ground and forcing him to his knees. The Skull Kid looked up shakily, the water up to his waist. The most terrifying of the tree people approached him. It's glowing green eyes stared down at him furiously.

"In the name of the guardians that protect this realm, I sentence you to 1,000 years of imprisonment for the torment of the citizens of Clock Town. Your cell will be the world between worlds you foolishly ran into yourself. May Farore have mercy on your soul."

The creature rose its hands, pointing them at the Skull Kid. "_Noo!_" he screamed, but to no avail.

The branches holding him crept upward to encase him. The roots broke from the earth, and the Skull Kid rose into the air, as the wood enclosed his body. His screams were silenced as the branches began to shine, the bark falling away to reveal clear, green, hard rock. It rose higher, until the imp was suspended hundreds of feet above the ground.

He was trapped within a green diamond, its surface sparkling and clear, revealing the skull child trapped within. He was frozen in a position of terror, his head craned back and mouth wide open. No sound escaped from it, however, his eyes still pleading with the sky to save him.

The Skull Kid, from within his diamond prison, watched as the tree with glowing green eyes picked up the gem and left through the passageway. It brought down a heavy, wooden doorway to seal off the entrance, bringing the witch's magic with itself. The imp was left alone in the wide, empty room.

There was silence. Nothing but silence. Soon, even that was robbed of him, as he felt his consciousness melting away. His limbs frozen in place, he could do nothing but mentally scream as his ears rang and his vision faded.

The Skull Kid fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The winter storm had calmed, but the cold still chilled his bones.

The imp walked through the snow and shivered, grabbing his arms as he shook from the bitter wind. It was late, the Skull Kid having walked all day and night. The final day wasn't far away.

He began to approach the cliff where he had killed the shadow twenty-four hours ago. The imp had learned so much since then, but the image of the girl from the caravan had faded from his mind already. All he could think of now was death, and the purity it held. It was the only reliable friend he would ever have.

The Skull Kid was crying as he approached Majora's Mask. It laid in the snow, appearing undisturbed from when he threw it. The imp collapsed to his knees before it, sobbing now as he scooped it into his hands. He wasn't even sure why he was crying, but he did. He couldn't help himself. He felt so sad and alone, but he told himself it was happiness he had found.

He would learn to call it happiness one day. Majora told him how death might seem repugnant at first, and that you might think you're sad. Eventually, though, he would learn to call it happiness.

"_I'm sorry_," the Skull Kid said, as the tears ran down his dark cheeks. He held the mask firmly in his hands, staring into the deep orange eyes. "_Please... please forgive me..._"

_**Of course.**_ He looked up from his crying, sniffling now as he peered into the eyes of the dark mask. _**You always have a home in the darkness.**_

The Skull Kid, tears still silently rolling down his face, got to his feet. He shakily began rising the mask to his face, as the winds of Snowhead bitterly stung him.

Majora's Mask was the face of the Skull Kid once more.

* * *

He heard a crack.

It snaked across the surface of the green diamond. Suddenly, he was awakening, and the Skull Kid's senses rushed back to him. His prison shattered, and the imp fell into the pond below him. The green shards shone and glittered as they rained to the ground around him. The Skull Kid shakily got to his feet, his limps weak and his mind numb. The weight of the water brought him down, however, and he fell.

The next time the Skull Kid stood, he did so firmly, stumbling out of the pond and onto the small crop of land. He looked around dazedly, blinking at the large, empty room. The memories came back to him slowly. The red gem... the giant's song... his friend sending the tree people after him... the chase through the tunnels under the clock tower...

He half fell towards the dirt wall he knew hid the passageway. It didn't take him long to find the notch, and he slid the door open, passing through to the dark tunnel on the other side. It was dark and terrifying, the Skull Kid barely able to see as he slowly walked through the darkness. It contrasted starkly from his last visit through the passageway. Last time, the creatures had been noisily chasing him from behind, and he had been running.

Now, he walked silently. The hallways were in ruins, gaping holes in the dark stone and plants having overgrown throughout it. His footsteps echoed silently through the darkness, and he walked with his mouth agape, staring ahead emptily. He felt like a ghost having risen from the dead. The hallway looked like it had been in ruin for hundreds of years. He remembered the words of the green-eyed tree and wondered if he had served his sentence in full.

Eventually, he found himself underneath the clock tower, the sounds of the underground river loud amidst the clanking of the wooden gears. He was expecting the dizziness and as he passed through the doorway. He easily overcame it. The Skull Kid walked up the ramp, onto the platform, and passed the spinning wooden pole. The imp placed his hand on the wooden doors leading into the plaza shakily. He pushed the doors open and stepped outside.

The townsfolk in the main plaza of South Clock Town, where the clock tower was located, looked curiously at the set of doors with oddly shaped, colorful designs. They were located at the base of the clock tower and had only opened once before. At least, as long as anyone alive could remember. The visitor had been peaceful, and he had come through the doors only a couple of years ago. The old man had stumbled into the sunlight and laid down on the pavement, a huge smile on his face as he had died right there before anyone could have done anything about it. And now, oddly enough, a child stumbled out of the doors.

The Skull Kid looked up, feeling strange as the eyes of the villagers seemed confused at his appearance. Their eyes lingered on him for the longest time, it felt, the imp merely standing there solemnly and motionlessly. Eventually, they went back to working at their stalls and crossing the plaza, though they continuously threw him glances over their shoulders, as if expecting him to do something. _Do they really not know me?_

He didn't recognize any of them, either. Each face was new, and he hardly recognized the plaza. The Skull Kid felt even more ghost-like as he walked silently towards the staircase leading to East Clock Town. The villagers looked at him suspiciously as he passed, but none of them approached him.

He walked to the mayor's office, opening the door and walking up to the desk. An elderly lady stood behind it. "How may I help you?" she asked, looking down at him. The child's clothes were frayed and dirty, and his eyes appeared to harbor a deep sadness. "Where are your parents?"

"Can I speak to the mayor?" The elderly lady seemed hesitant, but eventually she decided to comply. The desk attendant lead him to a back room, and the Skull Kid walked in. A young lady looked up at him and smiled, her face beaming. She sat in a chair beside the large desk at the end of the room, bookshelves up against the wall behind it. The young woman held a baby in her arms, and the man behind the desk was equally young, smiling down at the baby before he looked up at the visitor.

"He wanted to speak to the mayor," the attendant said, as if it was an excuse. The man sitting behind the desk looked confused.

"It's okay, mom," the woman with the baby said, in response to her husband's confusion. "Kafei is just being a little fussy, that's all. We were going to put him down for a nap."

"I'm sorry," the old woman said. "He's just a child... and he looked so lost."

"Do you know the song?" The Skull Kid interrupted everybody with this question, stepping up to the desk.

The mayor seemed confused, looking up at the child with narrowed eyes. "What song?"

"The song to call the guardians," he explained. "The giants."

The mayor, his wife, and the elderly woman all exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter. "Is this the urgent news you came to see the mayor for? Tales and fables? Sweetie, those stories aren't real."

The Skull Kid turned slowly from the mayor to look at the attendant smiling down at him. His face was blank. _They told me they would forget. But I didn't believe them._ The Skull Kid didn't press the matter, walking out of the office without another word. He left the three people behind in confusion, the baby crying in its mother's arms.

The imp roamed around the city for the rest of the day. He didn't see a single familiar face. The town he had tormented had died off long ago, and it had given rise to a generation that did not remember the skull child that destroyed their village. _Didn't remember. Memory._ It always came back to that. The magic of this world made people forget. Made people think their past was just stories. As if they were stupid. Would he have forgotten, had he stayed here?

He remembered them trying to convince him that Oak-something had existed across Woodfall. He shook his head. No one in Termina knew what laid beyond any of the four regions. He knew that for a fact. He also knew for a fact that the guardians were still sitting in their temples. Uncaring. Cold. Powerful. Wicked.

The Skull Kid walked around aimlessly until night came. Clouds collected and the rain began to come down heavily. The imp exited the South Clock Town gate and began roaming out there. Once he was too wet, the Skull Kid made to go back to Clock Town. He stopped though, remembering that he didn't know anybody there. He didn't know anybody anywhere. They were all dead, having existed long ago. His best friends in the world hadn't died, though, but they still had abandoned him.

The Skull wondered into a log, eventually. He curled into a ball against its surface and sat there. Eventually, he began to cry, shivering from the cold and the rain. He rocked back and forth by himself. _They left me_, he thought to himself, as he sat alone. _They're gone forever. They hate me now. They really left me._

The memories flashed across his brain, like nightmares that wouldn't go away. _Fables. Legends._ Everything he had ever come to know had been forgotten.

He continued sobbing as the rain barreled down outside. At first, he didn't even notice when a purple and a white fairy flew into the log with him, searching for shelter of their own.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

Santiago: Thank you! I'm glad you mentioned the sea snakes; while they were a minor part to the chapter, it was something I wasn't entirely sure how to tackle. And you would be correct, regarding the imposter! I wanted a chapter to not only build characters, but to set things up for both the Skull Kid and Link before he set out to the temple.

Guest (Chapter 7): I know, very sad. :[ But for several reasons. I wanted to establish that - even though everyone has played this game before and generally knows how it plays out - none of the characters have a "make it to the end free card." Even Tatl. I wanted to write a story that had genuine suspense regarding what would happen, especially for the characters, and I wanted to establish that early on. But they got a second chance! :)

EDLDS3.14159 (both reviews): Sorry about this chapter dashing those hopes. :/ And I'm excited to get to all of those things as well! But yes, Majora did tell Dark Link that he planned on letting Link kill the Skull Kid. We'll see how that turns out...

lunafall: Well, I can't answer the second question! But that is a good theory. As for the first one, I'll "kind of" answer it by pointing out that I've made at least a reference to many of the masks so far. The Postman's Hat, Stone Mask, Keaton Mask, Bremen Mask, Romani's Mask, the Garo's Mask, two of the giant's masks, and the three transformation have all been alluded to/used thus far... so you can expect more!

Steph: Yeah, me too! I didn't make the connection (pun not intended) until after I'd written it in, though. Rest assured, Link's quest will not turn into a hunt for horcruxes. And thanks! I'm excited to reveal the hopefully "epic" way I already have planned to tie it all up! :)


	49. Great Bay Temple

Note: I'm currently going back and revising the story from the beginning while posting new chapters. It needs it desperately. I also plan on deleting author notes and "Replies to Anonymous Reviewers" responses from the first two arcs as I revise (Clock Town prologue's and Woodfall's). I will keep them all in a document on my computer, just because, but a word of warning to those who are strange like me and want to save them before they're gone!

* * *

_Chapter 49: Great Bay Temple_

The ocean breeze was strong in his face. Sea foam filled the sky as it whipped soothingly through his hair, the world around him alive. The sun shone brilliantly and reflected off of the blue-green surface of the shimmering water. Their vessel sped through it, a bullet cutting through the water and sending waves in both directions. The palm trees were strong enough to withstand the speed, only slightly bending. Their thick wooden trunks were planted firmly into the grassy surface of the turtle's shell.

Link clung to one of the palm trees, smiling as the ocean breeze, sun, and sound of the ocean made him momentarily forget the death and darkness. At first, he'd been surprised by how fast the turtle traveled, the fins slowly gaining momentum until they were speeding through the water. He knew letting go of the palm tree would send him hurdling off the shell. Thankfully, its thick surface was easy to cling to, as long as he wrapped his arms all the way around it. The spray of the water hardly did enough to make the trunk too slick.

Tatl clung to Link's tunic, the wind pressing her against his chest. She'd initially tried sitting in the bag, but it pulled tightly against Link's shoulder, threatening to slip off and disappear into the water. While Link was certain the bag was fine, waving around in the wind had still not made his fairy comfortable. Evan remained behind them, clinging to the second palm tree and staring intently on what lay ahead of them.

"How do you feel about our new companion?" Tatl asked, speaking loudly over the roaring ocean, but soft enough to avoid the Zora's ears.

"He seems protective of his people," Link answered, not turning to look himself. "I'm not sure what else to say, though. He was helpful when I was trying to find Lulu's eggs."

"No, I mean, for fighting and stuff. Do you think he stands a chance?"

Link considered, glancing at the dark cloud they were approaching. It wasn't far now, the island or building hidden within the swirling black curse. "I don't know. I'm not going to let anything kill him."

"It might not even be monsters we have to worry about." Link didn't understand, glancing down at the fairy for an explanation. "He keeps having really bad chest pain. Honestly, I think he'll keel over and have a heart attack before anything else." The boy did turn to see the Zora this time. Evan didn't seem to notice, staring ahead at the fast approaching temple as the water hit his face. He stared intently, though his arms were wrapped around the palm tree, one hand clutching almost absent-mindedly at his chest.

"That happened the first time we spoke." Link hadn't thought much about it then, but if it was a recurring incident, then maybe Tatl was right.

"It happened when you ran into Zora Hall after your mask fell off. Maybe if you played your song of healing you'd alleviate his chest pain." Link turned back to Tatl at that remark to see her smiling sarcastically at him. The boy shook his head. "You know, you look a lot less ridiculous without a long, green, pointy hat on your head."

"I feel naked, though," Link replied. "All the male Kokiri in Hyrule had one."

"Kokiri? I think you might have mentioned that before, but I forget. That's what you pretended to be – right? A fairy boy?"

"I didn't pretend. I thought I was one. My mom brought me to the forest because she was dying, and the forest people raised me as one of them."

"I remember now. Would you consider getting a _new_ hat? If you never found the old one?"

"I'd have to," Link replied. "Even if our theory is right – that people and objects from outside of Termina travel back in time with us, regardless of whether or not I'm touching them – my hat was probably obliterated when the moon fell."

The fairy nodded her head. "Something to look forward to, I suppose. For now, we have another temple. Yay."

The dark cloud would be upon them in moments. The sun suddenly didn't seem as bright as they began to approach the curse, the sea breeze losing its sense of joy. Link gripped the tree harder as Tatl clutched her fingers tighter against his tunic. The boy knew the fairy was thinking the same exact thing: would it be possible to pass through it unharmed? Link turned to see Evan looking just as resolute as ever. The Zora noticed the boy peering back at him that time, however, Link turning away as soon as he was discovered.

The turtle continued moving its fins slowly, capable of maintaining its speed with minimal effort. Link watched as it bent its great head down before them, preparing to enter the dark cloud. It swirled around violently, threatening to tear apart any who approached it. Link brought his head down as well, the sky darkening. As soon as they passed into the darkness, the cloud stung his eyes.

Link closed them, drawing himself tighter against the tree as the dark wind savagely tore at him. He felt Tatl struggling to hold on, pressing his chest firmly against the tree in an effort to prevent her from blowing away. He swung his bag around in front too, relying entirely on this one plant to prevent himself from being flung from the back of the turtle. He wondered how Evan was fairing, but had no way to find out, keeping his eyes closed and holding on as his skin stung.

Eventually, the darkness began to fade, but the light it gave way to was not the light of the outside world. Link let go of the tree and took a step backward, the turtle having slowed down. The fairy flew off of his chest and looked around herself, the two still overcoming the wrath of the Skull Kid's curse. The room appeared to be a very small harbor. The room, while large itself, had only one bay for a vessel to pull into. It was entirely made of metal, the entire place dark and box-shaped. Link turned to see the open doorway they'd come through, the dark storm still swirling madly and blocking a view of the sea.

His eyes also caught Evan, who let go of the palm tree himself and began to take in his surroundings. The turtle came to a stop right at the edge of the walkway, the water around him crashing up, but not high enough to spill over onto the harbor's floor. The turtle lowered its head so its face just barely missed the edge of the platform, and Link began to carefully make his way down the neck, followed by Evan.

The three of them, once safely on the the metal floor, turned to the turtle who slowly raised his head. His great black eyes blinked, looking at the three of them below him. "The magic here is dark. But time is short, and I sense that you bring magic here that is darker still." Link's stomach churned, his mind returning to the dark curse he harbored within his chest. "Good luck. May the gods be with you." The turtle then turned and moved his great fins to send him back in the storm, the violent cloud obscuring him from sight.

Link, Tatl, and Evan exchanged glances, the storm continuing to wail as two torches crackled with life not far from them. "How are we planning on getting out?" Evan asked, looking somewhat lost after the turtle that had abandoned them.

"Quite conveniently, once we slay the monster in a temple, the mask they leave behind teleports us out." The fairy stopped, turning to Link. "At least, I'm assuming that's what happened in Snowhead too?" Link nodded his head. "Right. So, we'll be banking on that again. Otherwise, I guess you guys will have to hope that storm goes away so we can swim out of here."

Evan, his curiosity only appearing somewhat abated, turned to face them. "You guys have done this many times before, I take it?"

"Oh, Link's a pro," Tatl replied. "This is only his third temple here, but in Hyrule, he went through... eh... how many, exactly?"

"Five," Link answered. "Although, I like to count the three places I went to before I started traveling through time as well."

"Hyrule? Time travel?" Evan's face expressed confusion, but Link was surprised at how calmly he seemed to be taking it. "It seems you guys have a lot to catch me up on."

"Oh, it's going to take more than two days to fill you in on everything," the fairy said, nodding her head vigorously. "We've had all sorts of loonies after us since we've been here."

"Hopefully I don't end up being one of those," Evan said calmly, smiling. "Shall we move on?"

"Of course," Tatl said, gesturing Link forward. "Lead the way, Hero of Time."

Link returned her smile, stepping towards the door at the end of the room. It was a dark blue one that seemed to glow, lacking a handle but aesthetically pleasing nonetheless. The boy noticed water dripping from the ceiling of the temple, falling occasionally onto the hard floor. The sound of his boots bounced off the metal, the room giving off a bluish glow.

"Sooo Evan," the fairy began nonchalantly. Link smiled fainty even though his back was to them, listening to their conversation.

"Yes?"

"You don't have any... medical conditions we should know about, do you? Like, I don't know, reoccurring pain in one area... that might be relevant to us, on our journey. Given how physically demanding it is." The Zora didn't seem to understand. "We would've asked you to fill out a health information form, but Link left them at the office."

Evan considered, as Link stopped at the door, pressing it inward and beginning to slide it upwards. It was lighter than most other temple doors, so Link effortlessly raised it as he listened to the conversation behind him.

"I used to get headaches when I was younger," Evan responded.

"Right. Headaches. When you were younger. Good to know."

"Otherwise, I'm pretty healthy."

"You feel capable of performing all tasks you go about... performing. On a daily basis?"

"Yes?" Evan posed it almost as a question.

"Fantastic. We should have nothing to worry about then. … Whoa! That's a huge waterwheel!"

The next room was enormous, the sounds of clanking machinery even louder than those within the clock tower. Part of that was own to the fact that the gears were made of metal. The three of them walked out onto a metal platform with ramps leading off of it up and around the room. Below them was water, two long pipes – one red and one yellow – running through the room as well. They opened up at one point to let two powerful jets of water shoot several feet into the air. One such jet was turning a metal wheel, the energy this created following a turning pole that lead outside of the room.

Link, Tatl, and Evan looked on it all in awe. The water shimmered from the light of the torches lighting the room, the entire place smelling dank. The sound of rushing water and turning metal wheels filled it, making them all feel like they had entered a great factory. The boy and his fairy took it all in, while the Zora quickly recovered from his astonishment, Link noted.

"How many times have you been here before?" the fairy asked.

"Three."

"What kept bringing you here?"

"Paying homage to our god."

Link turned back to look at the room for a moment longer, deciding it didn't look very spiritual or sacred. "This is a strange temple." The boy began to follow the walkway upward, it curving to the right before going up to a second story. The metal bridge was slick, water seeming to spray all around them. They quickly became damp as they went, observing the many pipes and bursts of water. Tatl lingered on the waterwheel, watching it turn inquisitively.

Eventually, they were in line with the door, walking underneath the turning pole that lead into the other room. There was no door, the three passing through the open entrance into the next room. It was far more massive. It was large and circular, the roof high above them and the floor submerged in a pit of water. A thin, narrow bridge lead from the ledge they stood on to a door across the room. A massive machine, connected to the turning pole form the first room, rotated underneath the water. Powerful, brown fins spun through the water, causing a strong current to exist in a counter-clockwise direction. The machine was far nosier than the machinery in the previous room, appearing to accomplish only creating the current.

"Hmm, I get it," Tatl said after a moment's examination. "That huge waterwheel is powering this thing."

"Yeah, but why?"

"It's a trial." Link and Tatl both turned to Evan. "But it's not something we do anymore. Years ago, all of the young, brave Zoras would come here and try to make it to the chamber at the end. Those who did, were deemed Zoran heroes."

"Like Mikau?" Link inquired. He remembered the bandleader telling him that Mikau had the blood of Zoran heroes in his veins.

"No," Evan replied. "He was a descendant of famous heroes who had passed these trials. He had the potential... but heroes weren't necessary anymore."

"Seems to me you guys were wrong about that," Tatl said, turning back to look at the massive machine. "And it also looks like we can't just cross the room and continue on. Naturally." She was right. The door on the other end could only be reached by a metal ladder, and a powerful waterfall poured from the ceiling on top of it. Any attempt to climb it would injure whomever tried.

"We dive in," Evan said, walking up to the ledge. He looked down into the water with a faint smile on his face.

"What?!" Tatl exclaimed. "You'll probably get sliced up by those turning fins. And that current's so strong. Not all of us can swim, anyhow..."

The bandleader looked back to Link and Tatl. "You can wait behind, then. There's no other way to move forward through the temple."

"We can't just leave her here," Link rebutted.

"Then I suppose we could just stand here."

Tatl scoffed. "No need to get sassy, Mr. Bandleader. We'll figure... something out."

"You could always try to do what the eggs did. And ride sealed away in my human form." Tatl's stomach lurched at that, looking to see that Evan was simply watching the two. _He doesn't seem all that confused by this talk of human forms and stuff. This guy is weird._ "The eggs were fine when I took my mask back off," Link added, when she didn't respond.

"Yeah. We can do that," the fairy replied a little uncertainly. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Link gave her half of a smile as he removed a bottle from his bag and took the cork out. "Ready to get shoved in a bottle? Just like old times," he said, smiling at the glass container.

"You mean the time you shoved me in one, or the time the mask salesman did?"

Link didn't take the joke the way she'd thought he would. His smile faded, but he held out the bottle nonetheless, restraining himself from commenting on what she'd said. Evan's face was stone. "All right. This time, I'll fly myself in." She did just that, and Link corked the bottle, placing it back into his bag as he took out the Zora mask.

"It's going to be fine, Tatl," Link reassured her as he put her away, looking instead at Mikau's face.

"You can transform whenever you want to?" Evan asked.

He turned to the bandleader. "Yes." He paused. "It doesn't feel any weirder ethically the more I do it... using someone's deceased body to create my own unique member of their species. I'd never be able to make it through these temples otherwise, though."

Evan looked away. "I imagine that would be difficult."

"You were really close to Mikau?"

Evan kept staring at the water. "Yeah."

Link felt Tatl stir persistently in her bottle, capturing his attention. "We should get started." The boy placed the mask over his face, and then he was a Zora. His bag vanished, along with his fairy. The Zora with the long green head and the one without looked at one another. "After you." Evan dived gracefully in, and Mikau followed.

The current instantly grabbed ahold of them both.

Link was pulled downward and to the left. The current was stronger than he'd anticipated, and he tried to steady himself in the water. However, the speed of the turning mechanism wouldn't allow it. Link was sucked into the spiral, his attempts to free himself futile. He spun in circles, each attempt to pull himself against the current merely flinging him around like a piece of paper. In the spinning madness, Link saw Evan having a similar struggle. His mouth was shut and his cheeks held the last of his air with growing difficulty, as he was tossed to and fro.

Then, the burning fear that he was going to drown abated. _I'm a Zora_. He took in a deep gulp of water, deciding to angle his body into the current, and went with it rather than against. Evan seemed to be making the same realizations, the two eventually bulleting through to ride the current around. He wondered why it had taken Evan so long to make the same conclusion. _I have an excuse, at least_. His instinct to hold his breath while under the water was hard to kill.

When he turned back, his face was hardly an inch from the heavy, metal fin. Link darted away, the hard surface merely clipping his side. The wound stung bitterly, Link continuing to back away from the propellers as he checked the sore skin. No blood had been drawn, and he kept following the current afterwards, Evan hardly seeming to have noticed what had happened. "Watch where you're going," the Zora stated, half paying attention.

Link didn't respond, embarrassed as he noted how large this underwater chamber was. There were passageways leading out built into the walls, the current wheeling both Zoras around in a never ending circle past the many different exits. He looked to Evan, his instincts causing him to forget he could speak at first. "Should we take one of the exits?" He loved the sound of his aquatic voice so much better under the water.

"Yes."

"Which one?"

Evan didn't have an answer, so Link chose one for himself. As his Zora body gracefully danced with the turning water, he smoothly passed into the next hallway, and Evan followed. It was narrow, but the strong current still pushed him forward, giving him little reprieve if he didn't follow its many twists and turns. Bright green and red pipes followed along the walls on either side, however, making it easier to see in the dark passage.

It wasn't long at all before he shot out the mouth of the hallway into a bigger room. The current was gone, and Link straightened himself in the next underwater chamber. It was a confusing tangle of pipes and undersides of platforms, the boy quickly resolving to break for the surface. Sharp pain in his arm turned him away from that, however.

A fish, with sharp, bony teeth had opened its jaws and sank them into his leathery flesh. Link hissed, flinging his arm violently in the other direction. The fish remained latched on, small trails of blood seeping out around its mouth. Its bright orange eyes looked outward stupidly as it clung to its meal. Link grabbed it with his other hand, but he was surprised when the fish easily came apart with little pressure.

He released the fish only to find it floating away lifeless, only a small, floating cloud of fish bones remaining. Link was confused, but he turned to the sound of Evan in trouble as well. To his misfortune, two fishes had bitten him, one on each arm. That was when Link made the realization: these were animated fish skeletons. All they _were_ was bones. They're eyes glowed brightly and their teeth gnashed nastily, regardless of their lack of flesh.

Link, noticing that Evan didn't seem any more capable of handling them, backed away through the water and aimed his fins. They spun like sharp boomerangs, each one meeting a skeletal fish and ripping it to shreds. The fins glided through the water back into his arms, and Evan looked to him, relieved and out of breath as the bones drifted away. Both of their arms snaked small trails of blood into the water.

"Thanks," Evan said, slightly out of breath. "I didn't even see them coming."

"Me neither," Link agreed. He turned, but didn't see anymore attackers. "Let's go up to the surface." Both Zoras swam to the top, breaking the water and climbing up onto one of the ledges. The ledges were scattered throughout on top of the water in the long, narrow room. A door was on one end, but there was no other way out. He helped Evan up out of the water beside him, the Zora seemingly in awe at the bite marks on his arm. Link was confused by this, backing away from him once he helped him out of the water.

"It should be fine," Link said uncertainly. He thought about all of the injuries he'd sustained, even since Termina, and knew this one was the equivalent of a puff of wind in comparison. "It stings a little, but they were just bones, so I don't think it'll get corrupted."

Evan didn't respond, and it was then that Link realized he didn't seem worried. The Zora instead looked fascinated, as if it was the first time he had ever suffered an injury and wasn't sure how it worked. "Zora flesh heals really quickly," he commented, absently.

"Yeah," Link responded, looking to his own arm. The marks were still there, but the clam from the pirates' fish tank had left no scar. Its sharp cut had been gone by that night. "So they should be better in no time."

"Right," Evan said, lowering his arm and nodding his head. His black eyes met Link's, and for a moment the two of them simply stood there, dripping wet. "... Your fairy?" Evan's comment reminded Link, and he went to the bag that wasn't there.

_Oh._ Link removed the mask, and he was a boy again. He hardly noted Evan's smile at his transformation as he opened the bag and pulled out the bottle. When he removed the cork, Tatl flew out dazedly. The fairy half-heartedly stretched her wings, floating as she looked around confusedly. Her eyes blinked heavily, and Link felt his insides lurching uncomfortably.

"Are you okay?" he asked, dark blue eyes glowing in concern.

"Yeah," Tatl said distantly. She looked to Evan for a moment and blinked once, before turning back to Link. "I'm fine."

"Where'd you go?" Link inquired, beginning to smile at her dubious condition when he decided his fairy was unharmed.

"I... I didn't go anywhere," the fairy responded. "I was in your bag, and suddenly I was waking up, and now I'm here. It's like I was asleep."

"So you lost consciousness?" Evan put in.

"Yeah," the fairy said, deciding she liked the answer as she nodded her head. "It's like you put the mask on and took it right back off, except my mind's all foggy and stuff. How long was I in there?"

"Maybe two minutes, if that," Link said, still smiling. "We jumped into the water and followed the current through a tunnel and came here."

"Fascinating," Tatl replied sarcastically. Her eyes lingered on Link for a moment, however, when she saw him smiling at her. "What are you smiling at, fairy boy? I haven't been eating mushrooms or anything. Fading away into a black hole really does a number on you."

"I'm sure," Link said, turning away. Evan was merely standing there, and the boy decided this was a hint that they should be moving on. "Do you know where we are?"

"No," the Zora replied, looking around the room. "I've never been in here before."

"Well, I guess it's time to go exploring, then."

* * *

The cloud of darkness was growing on the horizon.

_Yes_, she thought to herself. _You may have stolen my eggs and killed my sisters, but I will slit your throat while your back's turned._

Aveil liked the feeling of the ocean breeze and the sun on her dark skin, but her focus was unrelentingly set on the temple in the distance. She had four other pirates in the boat with her, each with paddles in hand and sending them slowly through the water. She held her scimitars firmly, her bow safely attached to her back along with a bundle of arrows. She currently stood, liking to lead her people from above rather than from a sitting position.

_But it hurts so bad_. Aveil's hands went to the place where the boy had stabbed her. He'd left her in the hallway for dead; he'd left her for the shadow. _But the gods had other plans for me, it seems. _"Aveil, you should sit down." The leader's eyes turned to the only one of them garbed in white. She spoke in between long, hard strokes of the oars, but she looked concerned at the way her leader was gingerly touching her wounds. There were bandages at her sides, but they were no where close to completely healing. She'd urged them onward, desperate to beat the boy or else sabotage him if he came before them. "Save your energy for the temple."

"Quiet," Aveil stated sharply. She hated when those beneath her tried to command her. _She_ ran the fortress, and no one else. "I know what I'm doing." Upon further reflection, however, she did decide to sit down, but knew her attendant wouldn't say anything about her change of heart. _She knows better than that._

The dark, stormy cloud was growing closer. It was ominous, obscuring Great Bay Temple from view as it swirled above the beautiful, pristine sea. "Do you think the skull child will be mad at us?" the assistant asked.

_The skull child doesn't realize who he's dealing with._ "We do not answer to him. We stole the eggs from Lulu, like he asked, but he never came back." She decided not to bring up that they had dropped some of them over Pinnacle Rock. "If he comes asking for half of the treasure after we've found it, then so be it. But if he doesn't... then it's all ours."

The storm grew louder as they grew closer. "Aveil... should we keep going?"

"Yes." She would not allow a simple cloud to end their pursuit. They would pass through it, and keep going steadily. As long as they rowed hard enough, they would be fine.

"Are you sure?"

"Did I stammer? Keep going." Inside, however, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. The sound of the rowing was beginning to get blocked out by the growing cloud before them, the world appearing to darken as the ball of madness soon took up all of their peripheral vision. She could feel the wind picking up, much different from the sea breeze. It held a darkness.

"Aveil..."

"Straight ahead," the leader said firmly. _Please._ After losing the lives of so many, after their tower had been burnt to the ground, after their loot had been stolen... the pirates of Great Bay could not suffer another humiliating defeat. They simply could not. _No one would ever look at us the same way again._ It was not her intent for her prestigious organization to turn into a laughing stock.

The boat began to shake. Aveil dropped her swords and clung to either side of the boat firmly.

"Aveil..."

"It's okay," the leader said, changing her tone at the sound of her fellow pirates' fear. "Trust me."

"It's going to blow us away," spoke one of the other nearby pirates in purple.

"Silence! Don't look away!" Aveil shouted. The sound of the wind grew louder, and the boat continued to rock harder. _Why doesn't she keep rowing?_ This one stopped before the others, and looked up at the dark cloud with shining eyes as if she was a baby. "Don't stop, or it'll..."

"_Aveil!_" The moment the dark cloud engulfed them, everything disappeared from view. The boat lurched violently in the direction the wind was blowing, and then they were ripped from the water. The boat was turning drastically in the air, as if it were merely a plank of wood. Aveil found her grip on the boat did nothing to help her; her arms were torn from it and then she was spinning.

Everything was madness. Her stomach lurched painfully as all she knew was spinning. The water grew farther and farther away, the boat and her sisters soon becoming the only other recognizable objects in the cloud of darkness. Soon, even that was robbed of her, her sisters spinning away along with their vessel. She screamed, and they screamed, but none of it did any good.

Aveil closed her eyes as she wailed, unable to think as she was madly swung around like a rag doll. Soon, her screams were the only ones left. The others had been lost, swallowed whole by the monstrous curse. "_Noooo!_" Aveil yelled. She tossed and turned, her neck snapping around constantly and twisting uncomfortably.

She crashed into the water. She didn't remember descending, but it had all been a blurry chaos of dark clouds. The shock of the cold water and force behind its impact knocked her dazedly. Her head rung and her body was stiff as she began to sink slowly under the water, her mind numb and her skin red hot and swore. Her mouth opened slightly and water began to rush in, her eyes hardly noticing the metal room she appeared to have entered.

Aveil gasped, choking on the water as her body sank. The pirate desperately flung herself towards the surface of the water, flailing despite the fact that her muscles hardly seemed capable of performing the task. _No, no, no, no, no_. Her eyes greedily sought after the air above the shimmering surface, but it appeared just out of reach.

Nonetheless, by some miracle she broke free of the water, and the air burned her throat. Aveil coughed, her whole body shaking as she painfully treaded water, looking for land. She was in some sort of bay, where a ship might pull in, and she saw a ladder far away leading up to the metal walkway. Aveil swam, crying as her head rung with each stroke. _Don't stop. Don't stop._ If she did, she would die. She would drown inches from safety.

The dark storm howled from behind her, the bay opening out onto the chaos she had been flung from. Each stretch of her arm was more painful than the last. The stone bottom at the base of the sea seemed to pull her towards it, in spite of the effort she made to live. Something large and wooden flew by when she was halfway across the bay, slamming into the edge of the metal bay and shattering. She thought she caught a glimpse of one of her sisters amongst the wreckage, but her eyes and mind were set on one thing only.

Her weak fingers wrapped around the first wrung of the ladder. Aveil slowly pulled herself up, collapsing onto the ground once she finally made it on the top. She cried there for what felt like a long time, unable to move. Two torches burned on either side of her, ignorant of her wet, broken body.

It was a long time before she turned onto her side. Her leg did not appear to agree with the movement, but she fought against the pain, pushing herself back against the nearby wall. The feeling of her bow and quiver on her back brought her out of the silent falling of tears. She removed it to find the string soaking wet, along with all of the fletchings on her arrows. Aveil was astonished it had not been torn away from her. Her red attire had been reduced to tattered rags by the cloud.

The leader of the pirates looked up to see that her boat lied ruined on the right bank of the dock, a corpse in front of it. _But you are a leader no more._ The dead pirate was dressed in purple, but she knew her closest advisor could not have survived either. _How can you return to your people, incapable of avenging them? How can you return with your treasure gone, and only more lives lost?_

Was it even possible for her to return? Aveil wasn't entirely sure. She was so sore, and wasn't even sure the extent of her injuries. Most likely something was broken. But if even she had been in prime shape, how could she swim back out of the bay, and through the cloud? _Why did the gods spare me?_

And then she knew why. She would have to dry her bow and arrows out with the fire to the best of her ability, but she would make them work. She wasn't a leader anymore, and could never return to her people. But she was alive, and she had a weapon.

_For him_, she thought. The boy who brought the shadow, and could change skins. The boy who had taken everything from her. The gods had given her one last task. _I will kill the dark wizard_.

* * *

Tatl found her mind was still sluggish.

_This is ridiculous._ She wondered how the eggs had managed to hatch after being trapped in the black void for so long. _The black void. I'm not even sure that's what it is._ Though it was an appropriate enough title. Link had donned the mask, she'd vanished into blackness, and had woken as if no time had passed. And she still swore her head was swimming. Apparently, not existing for two minutes really did a number on your brain.

"Are you okay, Tatl?"

Tatl looked down at the boy below her. She'd gotten used to the absence of his green hat long ago, but he still wore the rest of his forest attire. He had an eyebrow raised, appearing concerned for her. The Zora, who stood much taller than Link, was looking at her too.

"I'm fine. Just promise me I won't have to disappear into that thing again."

"I promise," Link said, half-smiling to himself as he turned back to the large room. He wondered if he'd be able to keep _that_ promise; sure, they hadn't had to go underwater since the first time, but he wouldn't be able to do anything about it if they had to again

They'd walked most recently from a doorway onto a large platform. A pathway ran up along the left wall to a door on the second story, but the lower half was once again filled with water. It didn't appear to be an option, though, as there weren't any doors under the water. The only things under its surface were long, thick strands of seaweed that clumped together in the center swaying back and forth. The only problem was that –

"The path breaks off," Link said for her.

Tatl glanced back at him, slightly annoyed. "Obviously." The path went up until it simply stopped. The gap was far too wide to cross, but if they didn't cross it, then there was no way to continue forward. "Suggestions?"

"Those red and green pipes open up underneath the gap. Look." Link pointed to it, and the fairy saw he was right. Above the water but beneath the hole in the walkway, water was spouting out of two holes. It was shooting out weakly, however, so Tatl hadn't paid them much attention. The red and green pipes did run by where they were, though, and had been following them for a while. A large, golden fin of sorts was attached to them. It appeared to be a mechanism of sorts, as if you could turn it.

"Now that was a useful statement," Tatl decided. '_The path breaks off.' You might as well have said, 'That water is wet.'_ She stopped for a moment, however, wondering why she felt so irritable. She blamed the black void.

"Should we try to turn it?" Link asked, beckoning to Evan. At least Link always knew to just ignore her comments whenever she was being particularly and dreadfully sarcastic. She opened her mouth to say something snarky, but thought better of it.

"It looks like it's blocking the water flow right now," Evan commented. "If we turned it, I think it'd increase the pressure. Maybe enough to create a nice little bridge of water to the other side."

"That'd have to be a lot of water pressure for you to walk on it," Tatl commented.

"Yeah, but the current was pretty strong," Link pointed out. "I'd say it's worth a shot." Link grabbed one end of the heavy stone slab, and Evan the other. On the boy's command, the two pushed all of their weight into it to turn it in one direction. It slowly moved, making horrible screeching noises that caused Tatl to cover her ears.

The process appeared long and laborious, but eventually the slab was parallel with the pipe it ran underneath, and water gushed forth. Just underneath the hole in the walkway, two spouts of water shot up powerfully. They stopped level with the walkway, promising to provide another way across.

"You did it!" Tatl exclaimed.

"Obviously." The fairy turned to see Link smiling smugly, though slightly out of breath from turning the heavy faucet. Tatl returned the smile. _He's my brightest pupil yet_.

"Don't get too cocky. You still have to walk on water. Which sounds like it'll be quite the feat."

Link's smile faded when he seemed to realize she was right. The three of them began to make their way up to the edge. Only two powerful jets of water separated them from the other side. They sprayed up forcefully, somewhat painfully sending water in their direction. Each droplet was a pellet. The sound of the water running was loud, and she noticed that the tops seemed to make a sort of platform on their own. The opening in the pipe must have been more than just a normal spout.

"The good news is, if you fall, you just land in the water," Tatl pointed out. "You can try again and again... for forty or so hours, at least." Link didn't laugh at that, and the fairy turned to Evan. The Zora looked at her with his black eyes, but she wondered what he was thinking. They never truly answered his questions about the time travel, though he didn't appear to be too phased by what she was saying.

"I can go first," Evan said, as soon as he turned back to Link.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I've been a Zora longer than you, so hopefully it'll be easier for me." He smiled at the boy, and Link returned it, nodding his head. Evan approached the ledge carefully, but was quick to leap off. He landed on the platform of water, and swiftly used the pressure to propel him to the next, until he eventually landed on the other side. It was done gracefully, as was expected of an aquatic creature. Had he hesitated, Tatl knew he would have fallen.

"Well done, fine sir!" Tatl exclaimed from over the roar of the jets, now that they were separated. She flew over them to join the Zora. "I give you a perfect score." Evan merely smiled in return, and Tatl turned back to Link on the other side. "You're turn, Deku head! Though you might want to let Mikau give it a shot." She realized how insensitive the joke might have been to Evan too late, but he didn't seem to react to it.

Link shook his head and called back. "I can do it as a human!" _No you can't._

"Link..." But he was already going for it. Link jumped to the first jet and propelled himself to the second, but he landed too heavily. His feet were blown out from underneath him, and Link's face met the hard stream of water. It blew him off to the side, and he spun down the length of the long pipe until he landed in the pool at the bottom.

Tatl gasped, the blast of water to the face having looked painful. She peered over the edge to see far below into the pool at the bottom of the room. Link had sunk to the bottom of it, but it was more out of defeat than actual physical inability to swim to the top. "What an idiot," Tatl said, flying towards the water. "I'll go make sure he's okay." She watched as Link began to rise to the surface.

Something stopped him.

The seaweed appeared to have caught on his ankle, and Link struggled against the thick plant. Tatl stopped, beginning to worry, and then she saw other arms of seaweed reaching out for him too, beginning to wrap around him as if they were animals. _Those aren't arms of seaweed_, she realized, horrified. They were long, thick, green, _actual_ arms that looked like seaweed. They had begun to grab Link and pull him back to the bottom. The boy struggled and kicked against them, but it was no use.

"_Link!_" Tatl suddenly screamed, flying down to the water and looking into it. From underneath the shimmering surface, she saw Link fighting as hard as he could against the arms, but they were too strong. He was a boy, and not a Zora, so he would drown. His arms were wrapped against himself, and he had no way of reaching the mask.

She began to panic, flying as close to the surface as she could, but being unable to penetrate it. Underwater, she would be no use; her wings would get heavy and she would drown just as quickly. "_Link! Link!_" All she could do was shout his name and watch, as he drowned.

There was a crash behind her. Tatl spun around to see Evan diving further into the water. He'd leapt from high on the ledge. She watched as the Zora began to wrestle with the thick arms of seaweed, tearing at them with his fins and fists. Tatl held her breath, but eventually the Zora pulled him free, swimming to the surface with the boy in his arms. "_You got him!_" Tatl exclaimed, but Evan did not stop to greet her. He swam with Link to the nearest ledge, climbing onto the surface and pulling Link up with him.

The boy turned to his side and coughed up water, now soaking wet. But the sound of the coughing was music to Tatl's ears. _He's okay_. "Link, what the Din were you thinking?!" She flew up to the two of them, Evan bent down to make sure he was okay as the boy sat up. "Why didn't you put on your Zora mask?! That was so stupid!"

"_Thanks, Tatl_," Link said, his voice raw. He looked to Evan then. "But thank _you_. I didn't think I was going to make it. Of all the stupid ways to die after all of this..."

"You're telling me," Tatl commented. "But I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," Evan said. "This time, let's try it again... but with your mask?" The fairy saw that he was smiling yet again, and Link returned it. _He's starting to warm up to us, finally_. Maybe she had been too quick to judge him.

"Definitely," Link said, taking his arm and getting back to his feet. He was still dripping wet, his tunic now soaked. He opened his bag to pull out his bow, and the fairy noticed the same thing he did.

"Man," the fairy complained. "We almost went a whole adventure in an ocean land without you getting wet once. At least while you were a human."

The boy begrudgingly put it back in his bag, knowing that he'd have to dry it out if he hoped to successfully pull back another arrow. The Clock Town bow had been cheap, and it didn't appear capable of being wet like his other bows had been. "It'll be okay," he decided, regaining his breath. "Let's just keep going, and I'll make better decisions."

This time, it was much less eventful. Link donned his mask, and skipped across the water as Evan had, who shortly after followed him. Link removed the Zora mask afterwards, and the three of them continued to the next room.

It was a long, narrow hallway, with no traps, stunts, waterways, or bridges to impede their progress. "Thank goodness!" Tatl exclaimed. "This is how temples should be."

"Then they wouldn't be very good trials, would they?" Evan required. Tatl was surprised by the sarcasm in his voice. She exchanged a glance with Link, who returned it.

"Tatl's not a very big fan of temples in general," Link explained, his boots still saturated with water as they walked. Annoyingly, he wasn't drying as easily as Zoras did. He trailed water behind them as they went, his hair darker and saltier.

"This is true," the fairy commented. "Or freaky religions in general. Though, I may be at a slight disposition... because of the fact that my experiences with them have been limited and filled with near-death experiences."

"You didn't like them before Woodfall," Link reminded her. "And you weren't even there for the near-death experiences in Snowhead."

"You know, we've been in so many near-death experiences that they all start bleeding together. But either way, they've happened on the _way_ to a temple and... Evan?" She turned when she noticed he wasn't following them. Link did too.

Evan was staring at the ground, with a very confused expression on his face. His mouth opened and closed distantly, his black eyes concerning. "Evan... are you all right?" Tatl asked again. The boy and the fairy looked at him worriedly.

The Zora took a tentative step forward but almost collapsed. He fell against the wall, his hand flying to his chest. _No_. _It's happening._ "Evan!" Tatl flew to his side, as Link leapt. The boy caught him as the Zora continued sliding down the wall, Evan's fingers grasping at the leathery skin under which his heart was beating. His face was tense, teeth barred in pain and eyes narrowed as he groaned. Link grabbed him by his shoulders and tried to steady him.

"Evan, what's wrong?" Link asked, but the Zora looked off and blinked heavily.

Evan brought his head down to his chest, shakily removing his hand as he got back to his feet. Underneath his fingers, he revealed a black mark. It was small. But thin, black fingers had begun to creep up his chest, branching out from the original scar. Link gasped, backing away from the Zora and shaking his head. Evan seemed to notice the boy's reaction, still trembling as he brought his hand to return to the mark that had just appeared.

"_Link...,_" the Zora stammered

"What is that?" Link asked, dumbfounded. His expression was that of disbelief. "Th-that's... that's what... what I have..." The dark scar was still hidden underneath his tunic, as well as in his Deku and Zora forms.

"_I_... _AGH!_" Evan grabbed his chest again, doubling over in agony as the black mark spread. Tatl was just as awe-struck, watching with wide eyes. "I... I wanted to tell you after we... after we saved the temple... but I... it hurts too much... I need the... the medicine... Please... please forgive me..." Tatl didn't understand. Evan looked down at his black mark one last time, before sighing and bringing his hands up to his face.

When he brought them down, his hands were human, and in them, he held the face of a Zora.

Before them stood a tall man in a black robe, hood down. His hair was red and his dark eyes were slightly squinted. He had a tall, thin frame, but he was still bent over, leaning against the wall in pain. "I'm sorry," he said, hunched around his chest, where the boy had struck him with lightning long ago. He began to reach into his robes. "I just need to..."

Tatl heard the sound of steel on leather, and before she could say anything, Link had his Gilded Sword pressed against the man's throat. He pushed him back against the wall, forcing the man's gloved hand out of his robes as the steel bit into his neck. The second Zora mask fell to the floor with a hollow, wooden clank.

"_WHY ARE YOU HERE?!_" Link screamed, his arms shaking violently as he held the sword. A small line of blood began to trickle down his blade, the man's dark eyes wide with terror as he continued to shake. "_HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!_"

"_Link...!_" Tatl began.

"_NO. NO. YOU SHUT UP._" His voice was still hoarse from the water, but his blue eyes were wild and fierce. Anger was the only thing that shone back at the man whose neck his blade had found. They never left the mask salesman's.

"_WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHY?!_"

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers (there were a lot this time... which is a good thing!) :

That Guy: (Ch. 44): That is actually a very accurate comparison: tragic figure addicted to an evil power. Hopefully he doesn't end up quite as hideous, or biting off somebody's finger while dramatically falling into a volcano.

(Ch. 45): Agreed. I'm currently rereading/editing the series from the beginning while posting new chapters. I'm only on chapter 4, but I plan on only permitting words like "bastard" that make more sense given the context, rather than others I may have used. It does feel off-key in a Nintendo based story.

(Ch. 46): Kind of. I always imagined "Din" as an angry word filler, and "Nayru" as more of an actual allusion to godly influences, good or bad. "Farore" I feel is more of a direct reference to the gods, rather than Din and Nayru being looser ones. ... I don't know if that counts as an explanation. Maybe I'll set harder rules as a revise. It's all rather ambiguous.

(Ch. 48): Answers to your questions: (1) No. I was trying to heavily imply that they were members of the ancient tribe that created Majora's Mask. (2) I don't have a planned end "date" for the story, honestly. Going by my currently outline, with weekly updates, I won't be done until November. But I'm notorious for hiatuses as well. I still have a LOT left to tell, but I am nearing the end. We'll see. I'd like to finish it this year. (3) He has been mentioned quite a few times, hasn't he? Since the beginning. I'll touch on that some more all in good time. (4) I actually don't find music while writing helpful at all. I've tried it a handful of times, but... I'll either be into a story or I won't, regardless of what's going on externally. There's definitely a "zone" I get into though, when I'm really putting myself into a scene and typing out what's happening, but regardless of music. That said, while listening to music, I find myself coming up with my best ideas for stories. So... music helps me brainstorm, not write. I find the OST soundtrack from the Legend of Korra especially helpful in regards to brainstorming for this fic.

Santiago: Thank you so much! In regards to the other lands, I appreciate you realizing that it wasn't necessary for me to go into them. Honestly though, I was a little sad I couldn't. I already had mini-ideas bubbling that I had to forsake, simply because they weren't relevant. But yes; it all built up the tragedy that is the Skull Kid. I feel bad for the little imp.

SCAG: Apparently so! Frying guards is a very dangerous hobby.

EX-MARK: Actually, that is given lore in the video game. You should check out Anju's Grandmother's story that she reads to Link in order to get a heart piece. Mine obviously takes liberties and expounds upon it, but the roots were already there, if very ambiguous and open-ended roots.

EDLDS3.14159: Aw, thanks! I really appreciate that. I definitely put a lot of effort into it. But yes, a Skyward Sword reference and similarities to gems seen before. And I will most certainly keep at it!


	50. Power in a Name

Note: Chapter 50... hooray! What an accomplishment! And an even bigger accomplishment: I'm actually a chapter ahead of schedule. I won't release more than one a week, to pace what I have, but I still hardly recognize myself. Those of you who've been sticking with this for a while know that weekly updates are a very, very rare thing.

* * *

_Chapter 50: Power in a Name_

Link couldn't control the shaking in his hand. He pressed his sword into the man's throat, staring fiercely into his eyes.

The boy's mind was numb and he shook terribly, feeling a warm trickle of blood run over his hand. The dark sorcerer's eyes were wide, head forced back against the wall. The cut in his throat was small, but Link found the urge to slice it open from ear to ear unbearable.

"_WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHY?!_" He yelled, fighting against his dry, cracked throat. He had never felt this much rage before; his mind was blinded by it, single-mindedly set against killing the man who'd taken everything he loved.

The mask salesman's lips quivered, but the cold steel on his neck prevented him from finding words. "_Link, stop!_" Tatl exclaimed, frantic at his side. "_Don't kill him!_"

The boy breathed in and out deeply, his wild gaze unrelenting. "You want me to let him go?!" Link asked, never taking his eyes away from his captive. "Let him take out his ReDead mask and kill us?"

"He said he was getting out some kind of medicine!"

"Yeah, and he also manipulated us into getting him an evil mask after he killed everyone I loved_._" Link threw the mask salesman back against the wall again, who winced, as the boy pressed the blade even closer. "_WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME?! WHY ARE YOU HERE?_"

"_TO HELP YOU!_" the mask salesman finally screamed in response. Link continued breathing in and out heavily, his gold-glinted blade still at his throat. _One slice, that's all it would take._ And then he would be dead. How much would he regret it later if he didn't do it now? Would he ever get a chance to kill him again? Even if the mask salesman didn't backstab them right off the bat, what if the long chain of events resulting from letting him live ended up getting them killed? _I could do it now. Open his throat for everything he's done to me._ The blade shook in his hand, even then.

"Link... please," Tatl said, her voice heavy with emotion. The mask salesman's eyes left Link's to look at his fairy's. He tried to ignore the sword at his neck, afraid of the boy's eyes. "He would have killed us as soon as we landed in the temple if he wanted to. He saved your life – remember?" _That changes nothing._

The boy's eyes left the mask salesman's for the first time, his grip on him loosening as he looked off. "Please," he heard the mask salesman say. Link looked back to him. "Give me a chance to explain myself." Link paused, the anger slowly melting away. His mind raced as he searched for the right thing to do. _Gods forgive me._

Link let go of the mask salesman and shakily brought his sword to his side. The dark sorcerer's hand instantly went to his throat, bringing it down to see the blood. The boy looked to his left hand, to see the same red line on his own fingers. He wiped it off on his tunic, backing away and refusing to look at either him or Tatl.

"Why are you here?" Link asked. His voice was so raw now. Almost drowning coupled with screaming left him sounding weak. He _felt_ weak. Was it weakness that had stopped him from doing it?

"To help you, like I said," he responded. It was the same voice that had told him all of those dark truths beneath the clock tower, all of those secrets. The truth about Termina being a realm of shadows... Hyrule's inevitable end at a great flood... His manipulating of Link and Tatl to bring him Majora's Mask... And then Link had been overcome by his curse, and he'd struck him in the heart just like the Skull Kid had done to him.

The mask salesman's gloved hand reached into his robes again, and Link raised his sword, instantly snapping back to face him. "I'm just grabbing the medicine," the mask salesman said defensively, as he continued slipping his fingers inside. Link didn't lower his weapon. "You know I don't have the ReDead mask anymore anyways."

"What?" Link asked, his voice still filled with disdain. He refused to lighten up in the presence of this dark sorcerer. He looked to see that Tatl was merely floating there silently, eyes wide.

"You don't have it?" the evil man asked.

"Why would _we_ have it?" He poured every ounce of hatred and anger he could into each word. _He killed Navi. He killed Zelda. He organized Anju's death. He tried to kill Tatl. He tried to turn you into a shadow. Don't forget any of that._

The mask salesman pulled out a vial of some sort of thin, blue substance. It was three-quarters of the way full, and he began to double over in pain again as he released the top. "I gave it to Anju," he started, pulling his garments down slightly to reveal his chest. It was pale, aside from the massive, black scorch mark. The lines reached outward like spider legs, and he began to tip the liquid over it. "To give to you."

The blue ran over the mark, and the mask salesman bared his teeth. He remained there up against the wall, with Tatl and Link watching. "Why would you do that?"

"To prove that I was done fighting you." Link looked away from him at that, refusing to make eye contact.

_He's not on your side. You can't trust him. _The mask salesman closed his eyes for a few moments, before getting to his feet and pulling his robe back up. He closed the phial and slipped it inside, looking again at Link. The boy's back was facing him, but the fairy's expression was still unreadable as she observed.

"I wasn't going to tell you until after the temple," he explained. "But the scar keeps spreading. I couldn't hold it back. I healed every injury from that night under the clock tower, except the one your lightning bolt did. The medicine I have keeps it at bay, but it works less and less every time." He paused, waiting for either Link or Tatl to say something, but neither one of them did.

"It's not affecting me like it does you," the mask salesman continued to explain. "It doesn't give me new powers, and let me connect to the mask or Skull Kid. It just kills me. Slowly, but surely. And I can't do anything to stop it. I'm going to die, Link. Soon. You were right. I can't control Majora, not if... not if it so _easily_ did this to me. But before I die... I want to... to do what I can to stop it. Please. I promise. I'm here to help."

Link still had his back to him, taking in every word as his eyes shone brightly ahead. The mask salesman waited, but it was several minutes before the boy finally turned to face him. "Do you remember what you said to me under the tower?" Link asked. The mask salesman only responded with a face expressing deep sadness. _Or just another mask?_ "When you had me frozen with that ReDead mask, you told me to remember how powerless I felt. To remember how out of control I was, and how you are always in control... even when you're not wearing the mask.

"You told me I was nothing. That I was nobody. That you would turn me into a mask when you were done with me." Link wasn't sure if his voice was shaking just because he was sore, or if it was because everything that happened that night was coming back to him. "You told me that you owned me. That... that Navi learned." The mask salesman winced at the mention of her name. "That Tatl learned... that Tael learned... Anju... _Zelda_..." Link forced out the last one, his face expressing just as much grief as the mask salesman's was. "But you know what?

"I guess I didn't learn. Because for once, I _am_ in power over you. I had a sword to your throat, and there was nothing you could have done to stop me from killing you. But I let you live. Even though I shouldn't have, because I still don't trust you. Even if everything you said is true, you don't _deserve_ to join us. Not after all you've put us through. Go... go die somewhere else. By yourself. We don't want you here."

With that, Link turned away from him and began to walk down the hall. Tatl looked between the boy and the sorcerer, the mask salesman turning to the fairy for support. She gave him none, turning around to fly and join Link. "W-wait!" the mask salesman called out from behind. Link and Tatl both stopped, but neither one of them turned around. "Please. I can help you. I can... I can make up for what I've done. There are no more hidden agendas. No more secrets. You can trust me."

Link paused, but never turn around. "Then what's your name?"

Silence was his only response. Link smiled at that, shaking his head as he continued down the hallway. Tatl gave the mask salesman one last glance as they came to the door at the end. He stood there with his head hung down, staring at the Zora mask laying at his feet. The fairy and boy opened the door and passed through. It closed behind them.

* * *

Link and Tatl stood there for a moment, both staring off as they were together in the new room. It was another confusing mixture of pipes and spouts of water. It was just as large as the ones before, with a pool at the bottom, but this one had a walkway that appeared to lead up and around all the way to the next door. Link and Tatl hardly took it in, however, still processing what had just happened.

"You're not upset I left him?" the boy finally managed to say.

"No," Tatl replied solemnly.

"Why didn't you want me to kill him?"

"Because I'm afraid of what that would make us." Link hadn't expected her to say that. The boy turned to face her curiously. "Link, I already told you how weird it felt when you stole from that fisherman and killed those pirates. We can't become our enemies."

"I've never done anything as horrible as he has."

"No, but I think, a long time ago, the mask salesman probably found himself in a similar situation," Tatl stated, returning Link's gaze. "_He_ probably had a sword at somebody's throat... somebody who wronged him, or took something he loved. But he probably killed that person, unlike you. I think... I think you not killing him was a good thing. For you. For us." Link took in what she had to say, looking away again as he thought. "Did you notice that he said the exact same thing you did?"

"What?"

"You wanted to reveal your identity to the Zora people after you freed the temple. He said the same thing about telling us he was Evan." The words dug deep, and Link didn't like what they were implying. "I'm really glad you didn't kill him."

"Well, I'm not changing my mind," Link said, going to walk further away from the door and towards the walkway. It sloped up, and he followed it as it curved underneath the many pipes and gears. "He's too dangerous." Tatl eventually nodded her head in agreement, following.

For a while, they walked in silence. Only the turning of the gears accompanied Link's echoing footsteps and Tatl's twinkling. The walkway was long, however, snaking through the room's many pipes and walls to take them over the water without ever having to enter it. Spray still washed over them from the many apparatuses, but Link was still drenched from his dive in the previous room.

"Do you think he was telling the truth about the ReDead mask?" Tatl asked, finally breaking the silence as they walked.

Link thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. "I don't think it really matters. He didn't use it on us back there, and if he did leave it for Anju, it was probably left behind in another cycle."

"Not if our theory's right. The mask salesman isn't from Termina." Link realized she was right. The ReDead mask would have traveled through time with them but remained in its same physical location. "That's a dangerous thing to just have lying around."

"What are the chances that it'll actually do any damage, though?" Link asked. "Only shadows who don't go back in time will find it. So even if someone did... once we go back in time, they'll just lose the mask."

"Unless you happen to play the song when it's in a physical location where that shadow could find it again," Tatl proposed.

Link scoffed at that. "If that happened, Tatl, I think that would prove the gods actually _do_ have a burning, seething hatred of us."

Tatl laughed weakly at that, and silence fell again. Link's mind returned to the mask salesman, and he wagered that Tatl's was too. He began to realize how elaborate his plan must have been, to be disguised as Evan when they happened to run across Great Bay Temple. How far had he been following their every move?

"I just realized something," Tatl said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"He had to have known that you were Mikau. The entire time... even before your mask fell off. He had to of."

Link smiled when he realized they'd been on the same train of thought. "Another reason why we can't trust him. He must have found Evan somewhere to turn him into a mask. I wouldn't even be surprised if he _killed_ Evan to get a Zora mask."

"But how could he have planned it so perfectly?"

"He didn't plan it perfectly," Link explained. "Or else we wouldn't have found out."

Tatl agreed grimly. She turned back to look over her shoulder. The door they had come through was now far in the distance, obscured by the many pipes and gears. "What do you think he's going to do now?"

"I don't know," Link replied. "I don't really care."

She paused before responding. "That mark... it's the one you gave him?"

"Yep."

"Do you think it affected you differently because it was mixed with the ocarina's magic?"

Link nodded. "It looks like, had I been struck without my ocarina in my hand, I would be dead by now. And I never would have gotten purple-eyed and evil, either."

"I wonder if he realizes that." Link didn't have a response, but given how the mask salesman seemed to know everything else, he wouldn't put it past him. Link and Tatl approached the door at the end of the room, and Link slid it open as the two of them went inside. The door fell back into its groove once they'd entered the long, square-shaped hallway. It was a bridge, with a strong current of ocean water underneath. It lead from within wall to the other, disappearing from sight down a long, narrow tunnel. There was a door across the bridge.

"That looks like the underwater hallway I went through earlier," Link reasoned, peering over the bridge. He wondered if it lead back to the big, main room.

"I wouldn't know," Tatl commented. "Let's hope we don't have to go down it, because the black void is not a very comfortable place."

Link smiled weakly, walking to the other side. Despite how calm he tried to appear, he still found himself shaking slightly. He'd come within an inch of killing the mask salesman a second time. _I wanted to_, he thought. He remembered those dark eyes from behind the ReDead mask, as the mask salesman had forced him to his knees, twisting his hand backwards. _Did I tell you she writhed in agony in her final moments? It was so cleverly done; not even the masters thought to question whether or not it was actually a disease. She screamed for you. But you weren't there to save her._

_Why didn't you kill him?_ Link thought to himself again. He should have. There was no denying that that's what he deserved.

Link opened the door on the other side, and Tatl flew in beside him. The next room was perhaps the largest yet, except quite unique in that there was no large pool of water. It was immense and empty, cube-shaped, and had only the one door behind him. Puddles of water had collected across the level, singular floor as drops leaked from the ceiling; it was still as dank, dark, and cool as all of the others. There was one thing, however, that stood out to Link.

It had several racks in the back of the room, similar to the one he'd found in the goron temple. Weapons were hanging from the many shelves, Link noticing a mace, a greatsword, scimitars, and daggers. Plenty of other shelves also existed in the room, some holding bits of armor with most of the sets incomplete. _It's an armory_. What mainly caught his attention, however, was a bow that hung on the back wall.

It looked quite similar to the one he'd lost on the beach. Instead of one red light twinkling at him from across the room, however, a red and a blue one were. Link smiled, pushing away thoughts of the sorcerer as he ran eagerly towards the prize waiting for him. His boots splashed in the puddles as he went, the bow on the other side. He didn't even notice that Tatl hadn't followed him, eyes wide in shock at the ceiling.

"_Link, above you!_" He stopped halfway across the room, his boots having run across the metal bars of a grate. He stumbled slightly on one of the bars, catching himself before he fell, and spun around to look upward.

An eye met his own. It stared down at him from the ceiling, far larger than Link's entire body. It was surrounded by pink spheres, but it had no distinguishable body of its own. Link blinked, dumbfounded at the thing above him, and it blinked in response. The eye had a green iris, the red lines surrounding it appearing stressed and bold.

Then, it closed again, detaching from the ceiling. Link didn't take another moment to reflect on how strange this creature was. Instead, he ran, splashing about as he made to go as far away from the center as he could. The giant eyeball landed on the grate where he'd once stood, turning to open its eye as Link drew his weapon, having returned to Tatl at the door.

The being appear to be a thick, scaly, green orb. The outside was a shell of sorts, its contents appearing to only be a massive eyeball. A hole in the shell was where the iris peaked out at him, a green scaly eyelid coming down to blink once more. Link's mouth was wide open, not understanding the strange creature. It was more than ten times his size, but it didn't seem to be capable of hurting him. "What is that?!" Link exclaimed.

"... It's a wart," Tatl stated sullenly.

"A what?" The pink spheres began to fall from the ceiling as well, and Link realized how many of them there were. They were bubble-like beings, their innards cloudy within the gelatinous exterior. They began to bounce along the ground after they had fallen, congregating towards the eyeball and latching onto it. Link became even more perplexed, as there were at least fifty of them bouncing around pedantically. Soon, the wart was covered in pink bubbles, its eye still visible when opened from behind the masses.

Link remained where he was standing, sword still drawn, his tunic still very wet. The wart levitated into the air, floating around now as the pink bubbles protectively rotated, gliding across the scaly green surface underneath. It continued floating throughout the parameter of the room, and Link cautiously took a step forward. "Can I... just take the bow and go?"

"If you're ready to fight for it," Tatl added, looking worriedly at the monster.

"What's it going to do? Blink at me?"

"Yes, but I'd be more worried about the bubbles, and the eyeball's ability to just smash you." Link, after taking the words into consideration, began to walk across the room towards the bow. The wart happened to be against the left wall, and it noticed his movement, lurching in one direction as a pink bubble left the surface of the hard, green skin. It began plopping its way over to Link, sloshing down on the ground before springing into the air repeatedly. It moved faster than the boy anticipated.

Only halfway across the room, Link drew his Clock Town bow and notched an arrow, just then remembering the water damage. The string was heavy and raw on his fingers, the feathers on his arrow drooping with seawater. He aimed at the bubble, but the string was not nearly as crisp while saturated. It flung forward heavily, the arrow spiraling off nearby and far off target.

He lowered his weapon and cursed as the bubble slammed into him. The sloshy, pink surface was hard against his skin, the impact knocking him off his feet and into the puddles. He tossed his Clock Town bow aside, rolling out of the way as the bubble bounced upward and came down to crush him. It missed, and as Link rose to his feet he brought his sword into an upper-ward arc.

The gold-tinted sword cut through easily, the bubble popping and sending pink muck to splatter in the near vicinity. He turned to see the entire wart still floating across the room, the pink bubbles swarming around chaotically. It didn't appear to react too strongly to one of the bubbles dying. _Then again, is it even possible for this thing to express emotion?_ The boy turned to see Tatl still waiting at the door, looking fearfully at the events taking place. He wasn't sure what she was so worried about.

Link slid his sword back into his scabbard and drew something else out of his bag. _Let's get this over with as quickly as possible,_ he thought to himself, bringing the hookshot out. He leveled it at the beast making its way towards him, pressing the button for the chain to fire forth. It easily pierced one of the minions, clanked against the hard, green skin, and then made its way back to Link. There were now two spots vacated in its penetrable pink shield, and he decided he would have to repeat that until its eye was exposed.

He fired the hookshot again as the wart hovered closer. Another pink bubble was destroyed. When he went to press the button a third time, he'd allowed the monster to come too close. He narrowly side-stepped it, having expected the strange creature to move out of the way. The nearest sphere brushed up against him, and he stumbled further away from it, the wart changing direction to run him down.

Link fired the hookshot again. And again, and again, and again. Each time the hook at the end would kill one, tap the green shell, and then return to him. The wart always slowly levitated towards him, but Link always kept moving, making sure to never allow it to get that close again. The eye always watched from behind the glossy, pink shield, occasionally closing only to open once more.

Then, the moment he had been waiting for came. One of the holes in the shield happened to pass over the eyeball, while it was open. Link narrowed his eyes, aimed, and fired. The hookshot passed in between the bubbles surrounding it, latching into the soft white goop of the eyeball. The wart shrieked, a high-pitched noise he hadn't been expecting.

The hook returned to the mechanism, as blood trickled out of the wound, the red lines surrounding the iris becoming bolder. It continued shrieking, Link turning to Tatl to see that her fears were being confirmed. The pupil spun madly in the green ball, as the eye turned pink. It crashed into the ground angrily, the thirty or so pink spheres left flying off and detaching their selves. Link watched with wide eyes, as the green wart began to shake furiously, its eye eventually stopping its rolling and finding him.

It began to skid across the ground in his direction, the thirty pink bubbles following in its wake. _About it not being able to show emotion..._ He wanted to amend that statement. The wart was only expressing rage as it charged. Link hardly had time to run out of the way, half slipping on the ground. He felt the wart pass behind, missing him by half an inch. The wart slammed into the metal wall, turned, and went to skid after the boy again.

Link was still running away, but now he was in between the pink bubbles and the green eyeball. There was no time to stop and aim, though, so he rolled out of the way again. The wart missed him by a wider margin this time, making sure to avoid crashing into its minions as it arced around to attack him again. Link stowed his hookshot away, drawing his sword after he decided the time for aiming and waiting was over.

He slowed as the wart neared him, slashing out for the soft, white eye. He missed, narrowly avoiding being barreled over. His sword hit the green shell, the force of its attack knocking the blade away from him. His sword spun into the minions, taking out two of them before clattering far into the distance. The twenty-eight pink masses now separated him from his sword, and the wart was turning to attack him from behind again.

_Now what?_

Link chose the goron mask. He went to wear it as he narrowly side-stepped another attempt from the wart to flatten him. However, his side-step got caught up in the bars underneath him. He hadn't even noticed that he was passing over the middle grate. The mask fell from his hands just before it touched his face, slipping in between the bars and falling out of sight. "_No!_" Link yelled, Darmani's mask disappearing into the darkness.

Link didn't have time to panic, rolling onto his back and jumping to his feet as the pink bubbles attacked. One slammed into him before he could stand, flinging him back to the ground. Then another hit him hard in the chest, knocking the wind out of him as the others began to swarm him. The wart then stopped its attacks, seeming pleased now as it watched from nearby as his minions began to surround him.

"_No!_" Tatl screamed, flying forward but unable to do anything.

Link wasn't able to scream himself. They were everywhere, his vision one foggy, pink mess. He felt their slimy, jelly-like bodies beginning to encase him, absorbing him into their masses, as if feeding. Their insides were wet and thick, and his legs were already completely inside of five of them. They were working their way up his body, suffocating him, blinding him, completely enclosing everything else from view.

"_No... no... no..._," he feebly struggled against their attacks. Soon his arms were gone too, and then Link was only able to lie on his back and look up into pink fog. His neck was absorbed soon after. He took in one last raspy breath, in the small enclosed space left for his nose. Then, his face was inside of them too, and he could no longer breathe. His entire body was suspended in their collective mass, it wet and thick.

He refused to open his mouth, not wanting them to invade his insides. But he wouldn't be able to hold his breath for very long, he knew. He couldn't hear anything; all sound was silenced from within the light pink prison.

He remembered almost drowning in another room after fool-heartedly running for the ledge. _Of all the stupid ways to die_, he remembered saying to Evan. He supposed it had actually been the mask salesman, though. Regardless, that statement was proving even truer now.

He saw a brilliant flash of color on the other side of the foggy, pink encasement. It was bright and powerful for a brief moment before dying away. Link wondered what it had been, but then saw the momentary bright flash again. It repeated itself a third time, and after the fourth time, he felt a rush of air blast into his face as pink bubbles exploded.

Link took in the fresh gulp of air and saw another flash of bright light. This time, he felt its warmth and recognized it as fire. It tore through the minions surrounding him, the others that didn't die detaching from his body to flee. Link rose as quickly as he could, his head swimming and his limbs sore. He ran away from the grate they had trapped him to, free of any pink goop.

He saw the bubbles dancing away fearfully, only a handful of them left. They were scattered and broken, their remains everywhere. The wart was off into a corner, its single eye wide in shock, now unprotected by his slain kin. And in the center of it all, he saw the mask salesman.

He still wore his black robes, gloves, and boots, but a mask was hiding his face. It was fashioned to mirror the face of a dodongo, and the mask salesman was conducting his arms elegantly as light filled the air.

A lash of fire sliced through three bubbles in one fluid movement, popping them in brilliant, red light as the flames then died away. The mask salesman retracted his arms, only to send them outward again, a ball of flames engulfing the last remaining minions. Link's face was blank, watching in amazement at the fiery dance ridding them of the pink nuisances. His eyes lingered on the black-robed man in the mask, who paid the boy no attention.

Link watched the mask salesman conjure more fire as the wart began to realize it had another foe to battle. The sorcerer sent a thick jet into the monster as it barreled towards him. The wart closed its eye, however, the fire passing harmlessly off of the outer green shield. The mask salesman spun out of the way before it ran him down, and Link was caught off-guard when the wart continued onward towards himself.

He exited his shocked trance to avoid the attack. Link ran for his sword, as the wart came back around to attack the mask salesman again. The sorcerer sent more fire in its way, but it was just as ineffective. This time, the wart was expecting him to move, and it went to crush him as he spun out of the way. Link noticed, and he hoped the sorcerer would too.

The mask salesman removed his dodongo mask, slid his hand into his robes, and pulled out another, as water continued to shoot out from behind the wart hurdling towards him. This mask was blue and round, with a skull and crossbones on its face. Just before the monster barreled down upon him, an explosion erupted from his body. The great ball of fire completely overpowered the wart's momentum, the bomb loud and fiery, a small mushroom cloud climbing into the air.

The wart slammed into the metal wall painfully, sliding back to the floor in shock. It still appeared unharmed, opening its eyes to find the mask salesman perfectly intact, at the core of the explosion that began to clear. Link, sword now in hand, ran to join the mask salesman.

He removed that mask to put on yet another one: it was solid white, with bubbly swirls drawn into its surface. The wart was already angrily sliding to plow into both the boy and his ally, hoping to crush them with one final sweep. The mask salesman, however, lifted his arms again, and this time a hurricane blew forth. The wart hardly made it halfway to them, but the massive gales of wind blew it up against the wall after just having fallen from it.

It tried to fight against the powerful winds, but in vain. The wart couldn't move, its eyelid forced open to expose the white of its eye. For the first time since the start of the battle, the mask salesman looked to Link, through the mask on his face. Link nodded his head. He sheathed his sword, drew his hookshot, and fired.

The hook stabbed into the soft flesh of the eye, and it shrieked as it had before. But Link didn't stop. The hook returned to its mechanism only to be fired again, the wind from the mask salesman still pinning it to the wall. It stabbed the eye a third time, blood beginning to gush from the gashes as the eye turned redder. The hook repeatedly stabbed the wart in the eyeball, and by the tenth time, its eye was a tattered, reddened, bloody mess.

Its pupil turned to face them with one last effort to move. It looked sadly at its killer, before the eye twitched a final time and then stopped. Blood ran in a fine sheet across its glossy surface, and the mask salesman lowered his arms. The wind stopped, and the wart hit the ground heavily. It rolled slowly and lifelessly away. The room was strangely silently, now that the beast had been slain.

Link lowered his hookshot once the deed had been completed. He turned to see Tatl joining them, smiling widely at the two of them. The mask salesman remained masked and staring at the defeated enemy for a moment longer. Then, he removed it, sliding it back into his robes. He still looked at the dead wart, his dark eyes mysterious and almost emotionlessly watching it roll into the wall and come to a stop. The blood had collected on the floor, a trail leading to where it had died.

Finally, the mask salesman summoned the courage to face them. His hair was red, as it had always been, the man as tall and lanky as ever. His eyes were still slightly squinted, but not as drastic as when he was pretending to be happy. Link wondered if smiling so broadly underneath his facade had simply put those lines there permanently. He seemed to be at a loss for words, appearing uncertain as to how they were going to react.

"You saved me," Link finally said. "Again." The mask salesman smiled at that, and the boy thought it may have been the first genuine one he had ever seen.

"I wasn't lying," he replied. "I'm here to help."

Link looked down from him after that, still refusing to return the smile. He wondered what he should say or do. Did this mean he could join them? His power had been rather impressive, and it was true that he would be dead two times over if it weren't for him. Link slid his hookshot into his bag, it once again becoming heavier with its dense, metal weight. "You genuinely want to destroy Majora's Mask?"

"Yes," the mask salesman replied. "The magic still is going to kill me, but before that happens..." He paused. "It was a long several days after you left me for dead under the clock tower. I knew that I was going to die, and I didn't know what that meant for me."

"How did you escape that night?" Link asked. Surprisingly, the boy received an answer.

The mask salesman reached into his robes and took something out. It was a small chip of wood, appearing to be a fragment from some larger piece. The bottom half was covered in faded green paint, but the top was a light brown. It seemed ancient and weathered, and the sorcerer held it gingerly in his hands. "A chip from the doors of the clock tower," he explained. "As long as I'm holding this and touching the doors, I can return to my shack. They are the gates to and from Termina, and always have been."

Link stared at the piece of wood interestedly, Tatl doing the same behind him. The mask salesman slipped the shard back into a pocket on his robe, looking up to Link and Tatl once again. _An answer_. His time in Termina had been plagued with questions and mysteries, but just like that, one had been answered by merely asking. Maybe the long chain of events from letting him live would be positive, rather than negative, as Tatl had predicted. _Did I finally do something right?_

"I know I've done terrible, terrible things, but before I die, I want to do something meaningful," he replied. "I wasn't lying when I told you that I was hoping Majora's Mask could save Hyrule. There is a storm coming, and it will wash away the entire land." Link's gaze fell downward at this. He'd hoped that tidbit was a lie. But what if all of it had been true? "I want to save Hyrule, and I know now destroying the mask is the only way. If it can infect us like it does... then bringing it there would only bring its influence outside of Termina. As that tribe feared all those years ago when it sent Majora here."

He stopped, waiting for Link or Tatl to say something before he kept going. "What convinced you it should be destroyed?" Link asked, the sound of water droplets falling to the floor still filling the gaps of silence. "You seemed pretty convinced you could have it under complete control."

He collected his thoughts before answering, still seeming worried by the direction the conversation was taking. "When I first got struck with lightning, I was expecting it to affect me the same way as you," he began. "But it only kept killing me, even after I subdued its effects. It never once offered me a connection to the mask, and never... possessed me, like it does you. So, I knew there was something you had that I didn't. Something that, if it could save you from Majora's magic and let you use it to your advantage, could destroy Majora itself."

"... Did you figure out what that something was?" Link asked, wondering if they knew something this all-knowing man didn't.

"I have my theories," was his response. "Have you figured it out?"

Link removed the ocarina from his belt and showed it to him. "The lightning stuck the ocarina first and then me. Its magic and the Skull Kid's are mixed inside of me."

The mask salesman nodded his head. He still seemed a little uncomfortable, standing there before them at their complete mercy. _It does feel a little awkward,_ Link reflected. The boy reasoned it had been a long time since the dark sorcerer allowed someone else's will to take precedence over his own. "Then it's the key to killing Majora," he stated.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Link asked, sliding the instrument back into his belt. "Should I play the Song of Healing? Would that make Majora fade away... just like that?" He knew that wasn't the solution, but made a joke out of it all the same as he said it.

"No," the mask salesman replied, smiling himself when he picked up the sarcasm. "That song only works when there is goodness in something to be healed. That demon is pure darkness." Link nodded his head, pursing his lips as he looked away again. "We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it."

Link narrowed his eyes as he looked away, his mind still racing to process the situation they were in right now. Honestly, it wasn't close to any of the possibilities he'd considered. Here he was, with the mask salesman, who had just saved his life. He was asking to join them, to help defeat Majora, with all of his power. Could the gods really have turned their luck around that drastically and suddenly? Or was there some cruel, underlying joke beneath it all, that would shatter their luck as soon as it had come?

"I have one last question for you, before I approve this whole... joining us thing," Link said, turned to face the mask salesman again. His dark ones still appeared to be having troubling meeting his blue ones. "You said you've been searching for Majora's Mask for years, constantly trying to find a way to get here to take it. You spent just as long trying to find a way to get _me_ here because you knew you couldn't bring the mask out yourself. You killed, kidnapped, stole, tortured, and manipulated over the course of all of those years, with the one goal of obtaining the mask.

"Was all of that... seriously done with the sole intention of saving Hyrule? Singularly because you genuinely thought it was the only way to save the world?" Link never broke his eye contact as he looked at the mask salesman. It had been the one question burning at him the entire time after their night under the tower; he hadn't believed him for a second, then, given all the evil he had done.

The mask salesman took a long time to answer. "No," he finally said. "I wanted the mask because it was rumored to be the only thing capable of returning the dead to life." Link hadn't been expecting this answer, his face softening in response. "Dead is dead. There's no coming back from that. But the mask... it's power was so dark, and so great... that there were many recorded instances... compelling recordings... of it being capable of necromancy."

Link knew what he was going to say before he continued. "I truly believed that the evil I had done could eventually be undone," the mask salesman continued. "Once I finally got ahold of that mask." The words Tatl had spoken returned to him. _I think, a long time ago, the mask salesman probably found himself in a similar situation. He probably had a sword at somebody's throat... somebody who wronged him, or took something he loved. But he probably killed that person, unlike you._ Link knew that his own victims weren't the only ones this dark sorcerer had intended to bring back to life. He'd lost people close to him too.

The silence after that was longer than all of the others combined. Link eventually took in a deep breath, not believing what he was about to say. "I'm not sure if I can ever forgive you for the things you've done," he responded. "Without you, I would still be happily in Hyrule, and Zelda and Navi would still be alive." He paused. "But without you, I guess my attention would never have been drawn to Termina... and Majora's Mask would probably have eventually escaped on its own. I know the things that have happened to me have been... terrible. And I'm sure you've suffered too, but maybe that's all been because... I needed to come here. And bring the ocarina, so it could be the one weapon to defeat the Skull Kid."

He then turned fully to the mask salesman. "You can help us free the temples. After that, we're going to call the giants and face the Skull Kid on top of the clock tower." He stopped. "But we still have other things to do before then." He was still determined to keep his promise to Anju, before all of this was done. "If you step out of line once though... if I have any reason to believe that you're still... scheming..." He didn't finish, but he knew he didn't have to.

The mask salesman nodded his head. "Of course. Assuming I live that long. My blue potion is keeping the curse from killing me, but once that stops working..." He didn't finish. Instead, after a long pause, he turned to Tatl. "What about you? You haven't said anything yet... since stopping Link from killing me. What do... what do you think?" He asked as if he was afraid of the answer.

Tatl looked away as she thought of a response. Link wondered what was going through her head. She'd been kidnapped by the mask salesman long before he'd found out the truth about everything. Allegedly, some of their conversations had caused her to have a soft spot for him, amidst all the fear and distrust. Something along their journey had convinced her that he was human. That had annoyed him for the longest time; he hadn't wanted to think the man who'd killed his beloved was anything less than a monster. But now he was willing to give him a chance.

"I still don't trust you," Tatl replied, after thinking. "But I'm willing to try to learn to do that." She waited resolutely for him to respond. He smiled, much broader than Link had expected him too. It almost curled as wide as the fake one he'd given them at their first meeting.

"Thank you," he said. "That's all I ask for... a chance."

Tatl nodded in approval, beginning to motion towards the door. "Do we want to get a move on, or something?" the fairy asked, Link happy that all of these circumstances weren't reason enough for her to drop her sarcasm. "Or are we going to stand around here all day until the moon comes knocking on the roof? … Violently."

"Of course," Link said, beginning to step towards the exit. He stopped himself, however, swinging around to face the grate in the middle. "Wait!" He ran over to its bars, getting down on his knees to look within. It was still darkness, water dripping from the metal rungs into its depths. "I dropped my Goron mask down here during the fight." He got back to his feet as the mask salesman and fairy joined him. "Do you have a mask that can reach it?"

The sorcerer smiled at that, shaking his head. "No," he said. "But I can open the gate for you. You should probably step back." Link and Tatl exchanged a glance, before going across the room. He removed the blue mask with the skull on it, putting it on his face again. The explosion was smaller than the one before it, but just as loud. The grate was torn from its hinges, scorched black and blasted up into the air, landing far away. The middle was now a wide, open hole.

Link and Tatl went back to join him, standing around the still dark hole. "Whoa," the fairy commented. "What do you call that thing, the Blast Mask?" The mask salesman removed it and put it away, shaking his head.

"I could," he said. "I only have names for a handful of them."

"A shame," she replied. "How many do you have on you right now?"

"Seven," he answered.

"Wow," Tatl said, turning to Link, who still looked down into the hole. "And how many do we have?"

"We have six," he answered. "But only three of them actually do anything magical... and _one_ of those three is currently at the bottom of this. Tatl, could you see if it's down there?"

"Sure thing," the fairy replied, turning to look at the mask salesman before she did. "I know you guys have your fancy masks and instruments, but _my_ super power is glowing. And flying. And being smaller. You'll find out that I'm far more useful than mister hero over here." She flew down into the hole, lighting the way as she went.

Link noticed that the mask salesman was smiling as he watched her go, the boy never having thought he was capable of being a sociable being. Even then, he was hesitant to stand too close to him, less he shove him down. _He played the murderous madman too well_, he thought. _Or was this the act, and the other the real him? Or had they both been real? _Maybe his transformation while he lay dying in Hyrule had been just that – a transformation.

Tatl found the Goron mask lying on the bottom, and she flew it back to them, handing it to Link. "Thanks," he said, taking it back into his hands. He stopped for a moment though, realizing that Darmani was still injured. His arm had been in the severe stages of corruption, and that had been days ago.

"What's wrong?" Tatl asked.

"My goron form," he said, sighing. "Remember Romani's ranch with the wood stuck in my arm?"

"Yeah, I remember in the pirates' fortress when it looked like it was about to fall off." The fairy then made the same realization. "... It might have fallen off by now..."

"I can heal it," the mask salesman broke in. Link and Tatl turned to face him. He pulled out the blue potion from within his robes. "This should be enough to close it up, unless it was injured by Majora's magic."

"But it's keeping your scar from killing you," Tatl said. "We don't want you to bring yourself closer to death."

"It's going to stop working eventually anyways," he replied. "Probably before this phial runs out. But... even if it didn't, I could always go back to Hyrule and make more." He smiled. Link took the phial into his hands carefully, still slightly suspicious. He eventually laid it on the ground and turned into Darmani.

His arm was revolting. It was purple and swollen, pus oozing out from around the wound. His head swam with a fiercely burning headache, and he felt like he was about to faint. Goron Link stumbled on his feet, his heavy body swaying and threatening to collapse. The mask salesman and Tatl reached out to help him, but he managed to stop himself from falling.

"Oh no...," he said, holding his head.

"Here, we need to pull the wood out first," the dark sorcerer said, picking up the phial and wrapping his hand around the shard. "This is going to hurt. Are you ready?"

Link nodded grimly. The scream was louder than the wart's shrieks had been. The mask salesman quickly poured the potion into the open wound, then instructed Link to drink some. After this was done, he removed the mask, and the pain was gone as quickly as it had come. He stumbled forward as a human too, the quick vanishment of the pain sudden. "Wow," Link said. "It's pretty amazing being able to leave behind that form while it heals."

The mask salesman nodded. "The black mark appears to be the only thing capable of transcending forms." Link widened his eyes in acknowledgment, knowing that himself all too well.

"Now can we keep going?" Tatl inquired, pointing towards the door. "Or did you drop anything else?"

"Actually...," Link began. "There's still the reason I risked my life."

He walked to the back of the room, standing before the bow. It was made of dark gray wood, just like the one in Snowhead, with a thick, taut black string. The boy pulled it off, wondrously looking at the glowing red and blue gems. There was a third slot that was empty, but the two there were colored brilliantly. A flame was drawn on the first one, and ice on the second. He ran his fingers along the their smooth surfaces. He eyed the quiver and dark gray arrows that had been laying next to it.

"Those are like the gems the witches had," Tatl commented from behind him. "Except smaller." Link realized she was right, never having made that connection himself in the pervious temple.

"The witches weren't the only ones from their ancient race that crossed over into Termina," the mask salesman said. "Their tribes all used gems and masks to store their magical powers. Their influences, from the few who crossed over, can still be seen all over Termina."

Link nodded his head slowly, as he drew an arrow and aimed it off at a nearby wall. The blue gem glowed fiercely as he willed it to be activated. A glowing blue light was born at the end of his arrow, and Link smiled. Cold air rushed around, bellowing forth as snow began to fall from it and hit the ground. Tatl's eyes widened. The boy released the arrow, and it traveled into the metal wall, the cold air trailing behind it and tip still glowing. When it made contact, a large sheath of ice suddenly covered the spot it had hit, crackling as it hardened to solidify a thick shield.

He continued smiling at the chunk of ice he had created, it remaining stuck to the wall up above. "... We have so many new toys," Tatl said absently, referring to the elemental bow and the masks. "Are you sure you don't want any of these other weapons?"

The armor and massive weapons were all powerful and strong, if old and damaged. "I think it would just be more trouble if I was carrying around a giant great sword. We have enough new toys for now."

"Agreed," Tatl said, turning away from the weapon rack.

Link removed his old quiver and arrows and replaced them, slipping the bow into his bag as well. Finally, it had been replaced by the one the Skull Kid had destroyed on the beach. The boy headed towards the door. Tatl flew by his side as the mask salesman followed from behind. The two of them looked at each other again, expressing the same thought.

_Do either of us actually trust him yet?_ He didn't think so. They'd be on their toes for the rest of the time he accompanied them on their journey. When Link reached the door, he stopped, turning to face his new ally before he opened it.

He looked at the man that had killed Zelda. Just moments ago he'd wanted to kill him, and now here he was, having joined them. He wondered what secrets were hidden behind his eyes, secrets that he would now be willing to give them. One secret, however, interested him more than the others, at that moment. It may not be relevant to their adventure, but the question burned within him, nonetheless.

"What's your name?" the boy asked again. The mask salesman's look became baffled, appearing almost sad. He seemed just as hesitant to answer as he had been earlier. "Why won't you tell us?"

He stopped, looking down as his mouth opened uncertainly. "There's power in a name," he said, his face scrunched in confusion. "But...," he trailed off, uncertain how to continue. "But that was a power I gave up long ago."

The mask salesman approached the door himself, pushing it inward and raising it up. Link and Tatl exchanged a glance, neither one understanding. Eventually, they followed him through, the sorcerer leading them onward. The three of them passed through the doorway, it slamming shut behind them.

The wart was left behind, dead and in the corner, as water continued dripping from the ceiling.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

**Quill:** Thanks! I'm a sucker for plot twists too, so it's nice to know that I'm capable of pulling them off justifiably. And you have Link's reaction just above! Hopefully it was just as interesting as the suspense. But I'm glad you liked the chapter before too! I always had a problem with the giants' "deus ex machina" nature as well (my LEAST favorite plot device), and I felt like the game didn't give them a proper explanation. But I'm happy you liked mine!

**That Guy** (I apologize for the long-winded response)**:** Well, the first thing to take into consideration is the giants talking about how the witches had "forgotten who they were," due to the effects of prolonged exposure to Termina. So they must be treated as unreliable narrators, as many of the townsfolk of Termina are. They all seem to have trouble remembering things from their past, and there's more to explore regarding the nature of these shadows and people-turned-shadows (Koume and Kotake) in chapters yet to come. Koume and Kotake state they have never heard of Hyrule, even though the giants claim that that's where they're from.

The witches, do, however, remember the conflict between the tribes, so your critique does remain relevant in that sense. I imagine you're referencing the conversation Link and Tatl had with Koume in _Chapter 13: Poisoned Swamp_? They never actually ask the witches if they're from that tribe, and even then Koume still doesn't really give a clear explanation (unless that happens in a different spot and I've forgotten). Koume does state this, however: "Majora's Mask corrupted an entire tribe of our kind, long, long ago." Which leaves narrative room for the giant's statement to still hold true: "Two witches in the tribe threatened to follow us and take the item for their selves." Notice "the" tribe instead of "our." They all had gems and they all had similar ethnic characteristics, but I will admit that this talk of tribes is rather ambiguous, coupled with Koume discussing "the tribe the mask corrupted" as if from a third party point of view. The point I meant to bring across is that they are of the same people, and were both involved/around during the mask's existence/creation in Hyrule. Sorry if it was confusing. And like you pointed out, I will clear up the language if need be when I get there whilst revising.

**S.R:** Thank you so much! I'm glad you stuck with it long enough to get into it. Part of my revising is trying to make the language/wording of the first chapters clearer and quicker (since narrative movement is much slower than it is now). I'm glad you're such a fan of the way it's done! The old man does appear to be an important thing to keep in mind, as well as the Skull Kid/Ikana Canyon. We'll see how all that turns out...

**EDLDS3.14159:** Thank you! I'm happy you liked it. Plot twists and cliffhangers are among my most favorite things (if you haven't noticed).

**Santiago:** Thanks! And I'm glad. Great Bay was always my least favorite temple to go through, so I'm glad I've been able to set aside my bias and do justice to the descriptions, haha. But yes! I've hit a productivity streak, and I'm determined to not lose it this time. Plus, summer = more free time.

**Steph:** Very angry... But yes. More to come on specifics regarding what happened to Evan, obviously. And I'm glad you liked Aveil's section! I really enjoyed writing it. She's a much more intriguing character than I initially thought she would be. But yes I am! Once a week!


	51. Gyorg

Note: It's important to keep in my mind that these events are happening as the (present-day) events in _Skull Kid Alone_ are taking place. It made more sense to do it that way, rather than breaking up either story line as I've done in the past. There wasn't a way to do it as fluently this time, given the material.

* * *

_Chapter 51: Gyorg_

The water was rushing loudly.

As the door shut behind them, the strong current grew even louder, running from wall to wall underneath the bridge. It sprayed up to the metal floor, soaking it and wetting them as well. The bottom of the mask salesman's robes was already drenched, lightly dragging across the floor around his boots. Tatl was thankful she could fly.

She watched the cloaked man stride towards the door across, pushing it in with his long, spidery fingers. It budged easily enough, but the fairy noticed that Link was peering over the railing into the rushing water. "Link?"

"I think this might lead back to the main room," the boy stated, watching the seawater sprinkle over his face lightly.

"Do we want to go back there?" Tatl asked, not quite understanding. Apparently, while she was in the 'black void,' Link had dove into the underwater chamber in the main room of the temple. The current had allegedly whisked him away into a submerged hallway similar to the one under this bridge. Therefore, it was highly likely that this one also connected to it somehow.

The mask salesman turned from the door he'd begun to open, letting go of it as he straightened himself. "Yeah," Link replied. "If we go through the door, it'll just be a long journey to a dead end. We can't swim _against_ the current back into the room."

"There was no way forward there either. Wasn't there a waterfall obstructing the ladder?"

Link smiled, looking up to her. "Yes, but I have ice arrows now."

Tatl returned his smile. "You just love your new toys, don't you?" She then turned to the tall man standing behind him, who was listening attentively. "Was everything you said about the temple a lie?"

"What?" he asked. Link turned around in response to that, now facing the new member of their party. Tatl noticed the cool look in the boy's eyes. _The mask salesman probably reacted that way to being caught in a lie before_, she thought.

"You said you'd been here before three times, to pay homage to the gods. You acted like all of this was a trial, and that the bridge in the original room lead to where we wanted to go. Once we found a way to climb the ladder. Was any of that true?" She repeated her question, and the mask salesman acted caught off guard for only a moment.

"No," he said. "I gathered all of that information from Evan's mind." He said it plainly, as if the task itself shouldn't have been impossible.

"You did what?" Link asked, narrowing his eyes. "How'd you do that?"

"With this." He pulled out a mask so quickly that it startled Tatl. _He knows exactly where each one is_. He'd retrieved them methodically in the battle with the wart, she remembered. The water ran under them the entire time, its rushing, white foam always blasting in the background.

The mask was solid white, except for red markings and a golden eye in the very center. The crimson lines surrounded the golden iris and formed a mouth in a mocking smile; it was the eye that terrified her. Majora's Mask had an alluring effect, but it was nothing in comparison to this one. Tatl found herself drawn into it, and she had to stop herself from flying closer, transfixed on its piercing gaze.

It felt like a needle was slowly being pushed into her brain; the feeling was more invasive than it was painful. The red dot at the very center of the eye was surrounded by the gold that pulsated...

… "_But my fairies just heard you say that," the Skull Kid said. He floated in between the torches filled with life, the roof dark above them. A creature with a hood drawn stood before them, its face dark and decayed._

_ "That's okay," she heard it speak. It used the words of men, as it reached into its robes. Tatl's heart leapt into her throat, and she saw Tael tense beside her. "They won't remember a thing."..._

… Then the mask salesman slipped it back into his robes. Tatl caught herself, almost falling after she was released. Link appeared to be having a similar experience. "Wh-what was that?" Tatl asked, backing away.

"Sorry," the sorcerer stated, his face expressing the apology he gave them. "I forget."

"I... I've seen that mask before," Tatl said, her mind still spinning.

The mask salesman had the same expression he always did, when caught in a lie. She wondered if they were really lies anymore, though, as her head continued to clear. _Now they were just atrocities he had to fess up to._

"I'm sorry," he said, stepping forward again. Link and Tatl retracted from him.

The fairy wanted to get to know him better, but she reminded herself that there was a clear distinction between that and trusting him. The power the mask had just had over them – accident or no – was still a reminder of how dark and mysterious this new 'ally' was. At any moment, he had the full capabilities to slay them without them ever knowing. _He still wouldn't tell us his name_. Tatl didn't buy the whole 'power of a name' crap, and knew he'd have to tell them more eventually.

He waited for them to speak first. For a moment, water was the only thing that did. "It's the Mask of Truth," he finally began to explain, when neither of them said anything. _Is it going to be this tense for the rest of our journey?_ she thought. It was a possibility that did not amuse her. There had almost been an obligation to let him join them after having saved Link's life. "It lets me peer into someone's mind and read it. I can do more with it, though. I can relive someone's entire life if I wanted to. In mere seconds."

Link and Tatl only responded with coldness. "You... did that to me?" the fairy asked. The mask's golden, red-eyed gaze had returned her to the room with the Deku flower under the clock tower – the one where Link had been turned into a Deku scrub at the very beginning. It was a memory she didn't recall having, though; she didn't remember ever meeting the mask salesman's ReDead persona before Snowhead.

"No," he rebuffed. "I erased a memory with it, and created a new one. To you, Link, and Tael. I implanted the horse chase, and the encounter with the Skull Kid in the forest." _There it was._ The explanation for Link's memory problems. She already knew Termina played funky mind tricks on its inhabitants... or at least had been told that. But this seemed explanation enough as to how Link had lost his memories. Maybe the mask salesman had accidentally tampered with his mind too much; surely, a non-shadow was harder to disillusion than an inhabitant of this realm.

Link went back to the railing of the bridge, peering over back into the water. His gaze was empty, and he seemed almost out of breath. _You're not making any real progress here, buddy,_ Tatl thought grimly. "Did you kill Evan?" Link finally asked. "Did you read his mind, learn his entire life, and then kill him to use his body?"

This time, the mask salesman's face was more resolute. "No more than you killed Mikau." His tone was slightly defensive. The boy turned back to him, not having expected it. "He was already dying when I found him. He was floating in the Pirates' Cove on the third day. I read his mind and then _healed_ him. I reasoned you would come to Great Bay eventually, but I needed a disguise if I wanted to have any hope of proving to you I'd changed. When you played the Song of Time, I brought the mask back with me into the next cycle."

"But wouldn't you have run into him again that cycle? There can't be two Evans at once without confusing people." Link responded quickly. He appeared desperate to catch him in a lie.

"There weren't," he replied quickly. "Mikau leaves for the fortress a day before this cycle begins, and Evan follows shortly after, that same day, to try and save him when he doesn't come back. They're both captives in the fortress by the time the dawn of the first day is here. They throw Mikau out first, and then Evan by the third day." Link didn't appear satisfied, gripping the bars tighter. "I'm the only reason you found Mikau, anyways. His body didn't float all the way onto the first beach on his own. I knew you'd need a disguise too, and given what you've done in the previous regions..."

Link's face was stone. _You definitely shouldn't have said that_, she thought. Hadn't everything been fine and dandy on the other side of that door? _Yeah, after you just teamed together to kill a giant monster. Once the enemy's gone things get more ambiguous._ Clearly, they were all on egg shells together: a bomb waiting to explode.

"Let's just go," the boy said, interrupting the sorcerer and still staring into the water.

"... What?"

"Put on Evan's mask and let's ride the water back to the main room," Link continued. "Do you have any other masks that can catch us off guard like that one?"

The mask salesman paused before answering. "You've already seen the dodongo one, the cyclone one, and the...," he turned to Tatl before he said it, "... Blast Mask. You know about Evan and the Mask of Truth now. There's the Stone Mask you've seen me use before, and the last one really isn't..."

"Good," Link said, not wanting to hear more. "Let's both turn into Zoras and keep going then."

"I'm just telling the truth," the mask salesman said defensively. "I promise, I'm not holding anything ba..."

"I already heard you say that," Link said sharply. _But he still won't tell us his name_, Tatl thought. He must be thinking the same thing. "Let's just finish the job." He turned to face her, and she saw his eyes were filled with anger. _But only a fraction of the anger he'd had earlier._ Having to travel with him was clearing paining him. The wart victory 'high' had died so quickly.

Link brought out at a bottle, and Tatl reluctantly eyed its casing. "Again?" she said.

"I'm sorry," Link said, but his face didn't seem sorry. "It'll be over quickly."

The fairy looked nervously between him and the mask salesman, who seemed just as worried. Why did he care? She remembered their conversation in Snowhead, though, and knew somewhere deep inside he thought she was a shadow of Navi. Clearly, they'd been close, but that relationship remained as a much a mystery as everything else about the man.

Link held the open bottle out, and Tatl took a deep breath as she flew inside. "... Here I go," she stated, looking around to stall before she did.

"We're just going to jump into the stream under here," Link explained. "It'll lead us to the big chamber, and then you'll wake up again, just like before." _I don't like the way he's talking to me._ She peered between the two men in front of her. There was more similarity between them than she'd realized. Physically and mentally. _But Link doesn't want to acknowledge it_. She watched as the mask salesman put on his Zora mask and turned into Evan again. _That was weird_.

"Tatl."

"I'm coming," she said. She squeezed herself into the bottle, and Link placed it back into his bag. She couldn't see anything from within, except his other possessions. The blue and red gems glowed fiercely on the bow in the dark bag. Her breathing was heavy, reverberating off of the glass container back to her. Link's fingers grabbed the Zora mask and pulled it out. _It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay,_ she told herself. Why was she so scared? _It's just like going to sleep._

She waited, but nothing happened. Tatl could faintly hear the water rushing in the distance and the other two conversing. He was taking too long again, just like he had last time. But that had been back when they'd thought he was...

… Her eyes shot open, but she never remembered closing them. The fairy blinked heavily, her mind suddenly the consistency of curdled milk. She moaned, her limbs sluggishly moving as she found herself lying pushed up into the back of the bottle. _It happened_. Whatever 'it' was. Her brain yet again felt like it had been subjected to the most horrendous, restless sleep anyone had ever experienced.

Link grabbed the bottle and pulled it out of the bag. Tatl flew out slowly, blinking heavily as she tried to wake up. They were in the massive room where they'd started their journey. The metal fins were turning below them, and they'd just climbed out to the top of the bridge. A ladder must have been somewhere off to the side, allowing them to ascend from the water pit below.

Tatl blinked sheepishly again, looking to see Link beside her and not any wetter. His tunic was still drying from much earlier, and Evan stood behind him. He, unlike Link, was covered in water. It made his fishy skin shine. The fairy found herself so tired that she actually jumped with shock when he removed the mask and returned to his true form.

_Ugh_, she thought.

"Are you okay?" Link asked. She recalled their conversation on the bridge, and remembered his tone having been much more unreasonable then. She wondered how much time had passed.

"Oh, now you care?" she said bitterly. The boy appeared hurt, the mask salesman taken back himself as he stowed Evan's mask away. "... Sorry." She backed away, shaking her head. "How much time passed?"

"Only a couple of hours," Link replied. _Only?_ "The tunnels lead into some underwater rooms, but it ended up eventually leading where we wanted to go." _Obviously._ It frightened her to know that she'd been in some limbo land while that was happening. What if Link had been killed while she was in his mask form? She supposed she just wouldn't wake up. _Simply not existing... when I'm in that void. Is that what death's like? Except never-ending?_

"Any misadventures?" she asked.

"A couple more seaweed arms and skeletal fish, but nothing new."

Tatl nodded. "Good." She recovered much more quickly that time, and they began walking across the bridge to the other side. The great metal fins turned below them, constantly churning the water and creating the current they hopefully would never have to enter again. Tatl fell behind as they walked, floating next to the mask salesman.

She eyed him as they went, waiting for him to say something. He never did, looking straight ahead at the boy leading them. Link stopped as he reached the metal ladder on the other side. It lead up to the door that would lead them onward, but a heavy waterfall fell and impeded their progress. She turned to Link to see that he was smiling.

He drew his new dark bow, it looking quite impressive with its smooth, gray surface and sparkling elemental gems. He pulled out a just as sleek arrow, pressing it back against the string and aiming at the hole the water spewed from. The waterfall fell heavily, bouncing off of the bridge and emptying into the pit below them.

The tip of Link's arrow glowed bright red with fire before eventually becoming home to a glowing blue ball again. _Showoff_, she thought. The arrow found its target, hitting the opening and freezing it over. The ice was loud as it formed, but it did its job. No more water poured through, and the metal ladder was left bare, if soaking wet. A cold breath of air bellowed forth from the newly created ice, rushing over them and chilling Tatl's bones.

"Pretty amazing," the mask salesman commented. Tatl shot him a look that the sorcerer returned, as Link began to climb the ladder. She reasoned it must be slippery, since he was climbed slowly. He reached the top and the mask salesman did after; the door leading onward was now before them.

It was much larger than any of the other doors. The platform before it seemed grand and empty, the door itself heavy and glowing a deep blue. It resonated powerfully before them, taller than all three of them. They stood before it, and Tatl thought she knew what was behind. Link and Tatl looked at one another to express the impending doom they felt.

"Is this it?" the mask salesman asked, seeming to notice their gaze. "Evan never went through here, so I don't have a memory of the other side. This room was left to just the warriors who managed to pass the other tests."

"Probably," Tatl replied glumly.

Link walked up to the door and pressed it inward like all the others, but he struggled with this one. Tatl knew he usually used the goron mask to accomplish such tasks, by Darmani was currently healing in his own personal black void. The mask salesman went up to help him. Together, they pushed the door open, lifting it shakily upward. The two men had been mortal enemies just a day ago, and yet here the fairy witnessed them working as one to enter the room beyond.

It was dark and dank, like all of the others. Link, Tatl, and the mask salesman walked inside, but the door did not close behind them, oddly enough. The fairy turned to face the oddity, eventually dismissing it and looking back. _No need to lock us in?_ There wasn't.

The room was rather small and completely empty. The only thing notable about it was the gaping hole in the center. Link and the mask salesman approached it tentatively, and Tatl went to have a look herself. The fall seemed to be a long one, a ladder having once lead down now destroyed. A glowing blue platform could be seen in what was probably a much larger room underneath them, but that was all that was visible. "How do we plan on getting down there?"

"My goron ball could do it," Link suggested, but he turned to the mask salesman.

"So could my cyclone mask," he added. "It's helped me survive long falls before."

Link nodded his head, and turned back to face the hole. He stood at the lip of it, staring within beside the sorcerer. Both of their faces expressed fear, she thought, and she reasoned hers probably did too. _Who knows what's down there?_ The fall was long, and none of them expected a warm greeting at the bottom.

They stood there for what seemed like a long time, neither one appearing prepared to face what came next. "So down there is going to be the monster that sealed the giant away?" the mask salesman asked. He laughed nervously. "The big boss?" Tatl was surprised to hear him sound uneasy. Maybe Link knew more about what was waiting for them than he did. _Or maybe his last encounter with Majora's magic just doesn't leave him eager for another_.

"Yep," Link responded. "I can't really explain how I beat the other two." His face scrunched up, as if remembering the battles. Odolwa's was still vivid to her. "It was all on nerve and instinct." Cold air bellowed up from the deep fall beside them, filling the spaces between words. "Together, though, I think we stand a much better chance."

The mask salesman smiled at that, looking away. Link took a step forward and put a hand on his shoulder, a gesture which Tatl wasn't expecting. The sorcerer seemed just as surprised. "I still haven't forgiven you, but... I think I want to be able to now." His eyes shone brightly at the mask salesman's. "I know there's probably a lot left you have to tell us... a lot left you don't _want_ to tell us... but I appreciate your willingness to."

The mask salesman, at first not knowing how to take that, smiled again. "Thanks."

Link nodded his head. "Maybe another battle is just what we need to..."

The sound of an arrow piercing flesh interrupted him.

Link jolted in surprise. The mask salesman's lips quivered, his mouth opening and closing weakly as his face contorted in misunderstanding. The sorcerer looked down to see an arrowhead sticking out of the right side of his chest, covered in blood. The fletching was sticking out of his back, the rest of the arrow driven through.

His hands shakily went to the sharp point poking out of his black robes, the blood just as dark as it began to gather. The sorcerer's hands were trembling as they went to clutch it, but he stumbled forward slightly, losing his balance. "_No!_" Link screamed, his blue eyes wide.

But his hand shot out too late. The mask salesman tumbled forward and fell down the hole. The darkness engulfed him, his dark body falling to the glowing blue platform below. Link was still in shock as he turned around, but the sound of another arrow being drawn caused him to reach for his shield.

The second arrow bounced off of it, falling harmlessly away. The pirate leader stood crouched in the entrance of the door, her red garments tattered and worn. She appeared out of breath and haggard, her skin bruised, beaten, and bloody. Her bandage was gone, the wound he had left her in the fortress glistening darkly.

She began to notch another arrow as Link drew his sword. The third arrow hit his shield as well, and then Link slashed the bow out of her hand. He grabbed her by the shoulder, threw her against the wall, and stabbed her in the heart. The pirate leader was smiling though, as Link's Gilded Sword killed her. His fierce, blue eyes only found joy in hers.

She'd done the damage she wanted to.

The boy tossed her body to the side, the ghost of a smile still on her face as she bled out on the floor. Link hardly paid her corpse a second thought, Tatl's mind still numb as she watched.

He applied the goron mask, turned into the weak Darmani, and dove into the hole without a word. The fairy shook as she looked up from where he'd fallen, finding the dead pirate. Her smile was seared into Tatl's brain.

* * *

He was rolled into a ball when he crashed to the metal floor.

Link unraveled his goron form and almost fainted. Standing was difficult with his head swimming so dangerously and painfully. He happened to notice that his thick arm had already begun to heal, but only as he removed his mask. Now a boy, he ran to the mask salesman's side.

The room was simple: a rather impressively-sized, blank, glowing-blue platform surrounded by water. There was no way in or out, except through the hole far up on the ceiling. The water bordering the stage went rather deep, its floor appearing as dark as the fall from the room above.

The man in the black robe had landed in the very center, on his face. Link bent down and rolled him over, blue eyes wide. He was shocked to find his face hidden beneath a mask. The sorcerer shakily reached up to the cyclone's mask and removed it, its white swirls giving way to his pain-stricken face. Even after being shot, he appeared just as mechanically capable of removing the proper mask to save himself. From the fall, at least. "W-who shot me?"

"A pirate from the fortress. She must have followed me here. Don't worry about her; she's dead." Link's hand went to the wound on the right side of his chest, finding a dark pool of blood. The mask salesman looked up from his position on his back as well, eyes frightened at the arrow still protruding. "Link, you have to pull it out," the sorcerer said, his voice trembling, face becoming terribly pale. "It'll get infected, otherwise."

"You'll bleed to death," the boy said, worried.

"No, I won't," the mask salesman stated, trembling as he pulled out the blue phial.

"Right," Link said, taking it from his blood covered hands. He began to pull at his robes to expose his chest. It was trembling, pale, and covered in blood, Link pulling the arrowhead out of the fabric of the black cloak first. He found it meeting resistance, however, tugging it free a final time to see it had gone through something in his right pocket. _Masks_. Link pulled them out himself, both he and the mask salesman observing the damage with wide eyes.

The Blast mask and Dodongo mask had been pierced by the arrow. They had small holes in their centers, and the expression the mask salesman gave told him they could no longer be used. Link's expression became even more mortified when he saw the sorcerer's chest. "What? What's wrong?" the man asked, noticing his reaction.

The black mark had spread into the arrow wound. It had taken advantage of his weakened state within seconds of the arrow hitting him. "The dark magic...," Link commented. "Are you sure you want me to pull the arrow out?"

Something other than the mask salesman responded. They heard a low grumbling, and the boy's head shot up when he heard water somewhere off to the side bubbling. "_Yes! Do it fast!_" Link turned away from the noises quickly, putting the mask salesman on his side and grabbing the arrow firmly in his hand. He pulled.

The mask salesman screamed, and blood instantly gushed out. It was everywhere. He didn't think he'd ever seen this much blood before as he tossed the arrow aside. It was spreading across the platform seemingly as thin as water, running darkly everywhere. The mask salesman's face reflected the loss of blood, his head nodding as he paled more. The boy quickly poured the remainder of the blue potion over the wound.

The sorcerer screamed again, and Link watched as parts of the flesh began to heal themselves. But hardly. The corruption from the lightning bolt had already invaded it, and was resisting the potion's effects. _No..._

"_The mask..._," the mask salesman stammered, his voice thick with pain.

"What?"

"_I need the All-Night mask!_"

"_LINK!_" This final exclamation came from Tatl, and it came shortly after he heard a loud splash of water. Link turned to see a beast hurtling towards him.

It was a fish, but it was enormous. Two spikes protruded from its head, and its body seemed far more scaly, sharp, and jagged than any other sea creature in existence. Its fins were serrated, and there were many of them. Its purple body was dark, but its green eyes were bright. It was vicious and monstrous, its tail dangerously flapping behind as it soared through the air, having leapt from the water towards them.

".. _Gyorg_...," the mask salesman said, his voice hardly a whisper. It roared as it glided across the surface of the platform, mouth open with razor sharp teeth showing. Link rolled out of the way, dragging the mask salesman across the glowing blue surface with him. Gyorg, the gargantuan fish, missed, completing its journey across the platform to crash into the water on the other side.

The sorcerer screamed in pain at being moved, the fairy flying down to join them. "Is he going to be all right?" Tatl asked, glancing from the injured man to the hostile fish. It disappeared under the surface of the water, far within its depths.

"I don't know," Link spat out, returning his attention to the dying mask salesman.

"_The mask!_" he exclaimed. Link turned around to see that the Blast, Dodongo, and Cyclone masks had all vanished. _Swept away by Gyorg_. "_No, Link!_" The mask salesman was shaking as he retrieved it himself, reaching within to grab one of the four masks he had remaining. It was a very dark gray, grated where the mouth and nose were. Two terrible red eyes shone, wide and crazed. The boy thought it was the by far the scariest design on a mask he had ever seen.

"What does it do?" Link asked, as the mask salesman put it over his face.

"_It's coming back!_" Tatl yelled. The boy could hear the bubbling water again.

"_It prevents me from sleeping... or dying_," he explained, his voice even weaker. "_No matter what happens to my body, as long as I'm wearing this mask... my mind won't go to sleep... even if my body stops working... I... won't... die..._"

Link nodded his head, though his eyes shined worriedly. The blood had begun to stop pouring out, but it still surrounded him a puddle, smearing in a path from the middle where they'd had to dodge the fish.

The monster rose into the air again, breaking from the water with its mouth wide open for another try. "No!" Link screamed, bring his sword out this time as he side-stepped the fish, making sure to remain in between Gyorg and the mask salesman. The fish's teeth clenched on the blade as it passed, but Link refused to let go of his sword.

The result: he was dragged along with the fish, his hand clinging to the handle as the monster drug him along with its mouth. It swung its head violently to the side as it returned to the water, sending Link spiraling from his weapon. He was sword-less and falling again, and Link tried to grab ahold of something but only found air. He missed the edge of the platform just barely, plunging into the cool depths of the water.

Link's eyes shot open as he barreled downward several feet, fighting to straighten himself as he held his breath. It was dark under the water, the platform going all the way down into the sandy bottom. Long strands of seaweed he knew not to trust swung back and forth dangerously below, and the boy looked to see Gyorg already swimming at him. Its mouth was wide open to swallow him whole.

Link barely swam out of the way, reaching into his bag and pulling out the Zora mask. He became Mikau. His Zora form was much faster; he was a bullet shooting through the water when he dodged the fish's next attempt to eat him. Link managed to swim underneath the great fish after the third attack and swam for the surface. He was out into the open air, dripping wet as he rolled onto the platform.

The first thing he saw was the trail of blood and the mask salesman shakily trying to rise to his knees. The man fell though, his teeth visibly barred behind the opening in the All-Night mask. Tatl was worriedly by his side, but didn't appear to be able to help at all. She looked up when she saw Link jump out of the water.

Her face was horror-stricken. So much had happened all at once. The mask salesman had been shot. Aveil had been killed. They'd all fallen down the hole, only for Gyorg to try and kill them while the mask salesman already laid dying. "Link, what's happening?!" Tatl exclaimed, tears pooling in her eyes. "_The gods hate us... the gods hate us..._" She was hysterical. Their luck had unraveled, as quickly as it had come.

And it got worse. Link was caught off-guard when a great, long, wriggling green arm came over the side of the platform and grabbed him around the waist. He was lifted off of his feet and flung around in the air, it shaking him madly. Somehow, this one had grown to hundreds of feet, capable of extending out of the water and grabbing things on the surface. Link was incapable of fighting against it, his arms and legs uselessly sticking outward as his body was shaken by the middle.

It began to pull him towards the water. As he was pulled underneath its surface, he saw similar arms dancing around the struggling mask salesman and fairy. But Gyorg leapt from the water, and also began to attack them, mouth wide. "_Tatl!_" Link exclaimed. He disappeared under the water before he saw whether they lived or died. The long arm pulled him flaying to the seabed, down towards other, shorter green arms waving delightfully at his approach.

"_No!_" Link exclaimed. He turned around to try to find something that could save him. He was a Zora, so drowning wasn't a problem, but he knew that the wiggling arms wouldn't let him live for long. His eyes caught a glint a gold. Link's Gilded Sword was lying in the sand several feet away, sticking out of the seabed. It was far out of reach, though, and he could do nothing as he was pulled into the mass of arms.

They began to pull and tear at him, trying to rip the Zora apart forcefully. He screamed, his aquatic voice loud in the water as the arms ripped savagely. It only lasted for a few moments, however, for soon he caught the glimpse of gold again, except this time right by his face. The Gilded Sword sliced through many of the arms at once, and they floated away lifelessly, the others instantly retreating into the sand as they released Link.

The Zora turned to see another Zora floating beside him, Gilded Sword in hand. Evan had saved him a third time. The bandleader smiled wanly at Link, the long, golden sword glistening under the water in his hands. "You just can't stay away from the seaweed, can you?"

Link looked to Evan's chest to see that the black mark was large and deep, much larger than it was even on Link's own human form. "Your chest...," Link commented. Now that he thought about it, the mask salesman appeared very weak, even hidden in his Zora form. His skin was paler than usual for a fish's. "Are you still wearing the All-Night mask too?"

"I can only wear one at a time," he said, spinning around as they heard Gyorg roar in the distance. They found the massive fish easily, and it was swimming towards them angrily. Evan handed Link his sword.

"What happens if you die in your human form while you're a Zora?" Link asked, his face worried as his fingers curled around the blade.

"Then my mask falls off to reveal a corpse," he explained. Though, for some reason, Evan was still smiling.

"You'll... you'll die."

The mask salesman disguised as a Zora turned to the hero disguised as a Zora and smiled even wider. "Then the dark sorcerer had best go out with a fight." The sorcerer turned to the fast approaching Gyorg, leveled his sharp fins, and fired them.

They spun through the water and cut deep into both sides of the fish. It roared, but did not halt its progress, beginning to swim up to chase Evan as he swam away. Link came down on the monster with his Gilded Sword, however, cutting into the beast before it could swallow the other Zora whole.

Gyorg shrieked again, hitting Link hard with its back tail fin. He spun through the water painfully, as Evan armed his fins to strike again. The boomerangs made two more cuts into the fish's flesh, and this time the beast responded by trying to ram the spike on its head through the mask salesman. Evan barely avoided its tip, but was instead rammed into by the scaly skin of its head. He was knocked dazedly away, Gyorg appearing to have had enough of the sharp projectiles.

The giant fish paused, for the first time since the battle began. Its mouth opened much wider than it ever had before, and Evan and Link both recovered from their blows in time to see miniature fish – identical to Gyorg – swimming out of its mouth. The two Zoras exchanged a glance before turning back to their new foes. _Of course_, Link thought.

There were over ten of them, the miniature purple, sharp, and deadly fish swimming towards them eagerly with open, sharp-toothed mouths. Evan began firing his fins, and Link began slashing his sword. The sharp Zora projectiles easily sliced through the baby fish, the small creatures falling apart to leave floating clouds of blood. Gyorg still remained behind, mouth open, producing even more young.

They continued tearing through the youth, being pushed further back into the water as the battle waged on. Link constantly turned to Evan to see that each of his attacks grew weaker than the last, his movements becoming slower. His new-found energy with the transformation was already abandoning him. When Gyorg was done spawning babies, it roared, beginning to approach the two fighting Zoras from behind his army of little, vicious fish. Link couldn't even count how many were left, his vision clouded by the babies alone. His golden sword glinted under the water as he tore through them, having to use extra force to bring his weapon down through the water.

His arm exploded with pain when one of the fish bit into it, Link quickly shaking it off and killing it. Something wrapped around his ankle, and then he was pulled out of the battle of little fish. This time, Link managed to save himself from the seaweed arms, swinging the glistening blade to severe it in two, but not before he'd suffered three more bits from the little fish swarming him. They were beginning to overwhelm them.

Then, Gyorg's jaws were open and just before him. Link barely spun out of the way, swinging his sword almost blindly in reaction. He turned to see the mask salesman backed against the wall of the platform, pushed into it as he began sliding down. His own blood began to show itself from behind the school of killer fish. _No._ Link knew the mask salesman couldn't stand to lose much more blood, in either form.

He swung his sword all the way around in a mighty, powerful arc, and then swam in the direction of Evan, batting away the fish that tried to bite his leg. Gyorg was circling around to find them yet again, hidden behind the cloud of baby fish as he opened his mouth. Link slashed the little fish eating away at Evan, who now limply floated in the water. The boy grabbed him and began to swim upward as fast as he could, trying to fight against the fish dragging him back down.

He heard Gyorg's mouth open behind him, and Link's eyes widened.

He let go of Evan and slashed his Gilded Sword out behind him. He heard Gyorg yelp in pain, and Link grabbed the injured Zora again as he swam for the surface, sending his sharp fins out to ward off the two little fish following him to the top. Link threw Evan out and onto the platform, climbing out himself, out of breath and covered in bite marks.

Tatl was floating by herself, worriedly approaching them as soon as they came out. Link dragged Evan as far away from the edge of the water as he could, the Zora hardly stirring as he was pulled. The fairy flew down beside the dying fish, taking in his ghastly pale form, scorched chest, and many bite marks. Almost the entire top half of his torso was the dark, charred black color of the flesh infected with dark magic.

Link let Evan go when he was lying near the pool of blood, the Zora beginning to stir on the ground. "_Link..._"

"I know," Link said. "But I have to kill that fish if we..."

He was cut off when the entire platform vibrated terribly, sending Link and Evan hurtling towards the edge. The fairy screamed out, but that didn't stop Link from dropping his sword and tottering over into the water. Evan stopped just sort of rolling off the platform himself. The boy fell into the water only for the cloud of miniature fish to recommence tearing him to shreds. The razor sharp teeth began ripping at him again, the bites and blood filling the water.

Link screamed, swimming as quickly as he could away from them. He wriggled up and down like a fish, as he had all those times in the ocean for joy. Now, he did it to survive, speeding through the water like a snake as the fish began to frenzy towards him from behind. He circled the platform from underwater, growing more exhausted with each passing second as he circled the stage. He was an arrow, the water washing over him to propel his body quickly, as it was built to do. The adrenaline fueled his every muscle, powering him forward and away from the snapping jaws.

When he rounded the next section of stage, he found Gyorg's jaws open and waiting. Link swam directly inside of the mouth, not having time to stop. He avoided the teeth as they clamped down to envelope him, and Link found himself in darkness. His mind panicked as he swam towards the teeth, pushing on them as he felt the throat muscles of the fish trying to swallow him, pulling him back into the stomach wishing to devour him.

He kicked and punched, slicing his Zora fins into the top and bottom of the mouth. Gyorg screamed, flinging Link out instinctively. Link's long, green head was grazed by the sharp teeth as he flew out, going directly into the cloud of baby fish waiting for him outside. Again, they began to bite at him repeatedly, bits of Zora flesh pulled free as Link was unable to defend himself, pulled away from both Gyorg and the surface towards the bottom.

He flailed much as he had inside of the giant fish's mouth, but this time, there was no singular entity to anger and escape from. They were everywhere. With each little fish he killed, another was already in its place, trying to grab a piece of Zora for itself. He realized he was losing this battle, and knew he would never break the surface again if he didn't think of a new tactic. Gyorg watched nearby, outside of the cloud of fish eating away at the poor soul who had come to this chamber to battle.

Then, Link thought of the one miniscule hope he might have of survival. He punched his last fish, took in a deep gulp of water, and reached for his face. He was a boy again, the oxygen from his last breath as a Zora powering him. The baby fish stopped for a moment, backing away in shock at the Zora who had suddenly became a boy. The water was no longer nearly as comfortable, and almost immediately his lungs began to strain. The reprieve lasted only a moment, and they were on him again... but not before Link had reached into his bag, put away his Zora mask, and pulled out his hookshot.

He aimed it at the giant fish watching. The hook latched into Gyorg's side, and Link was pulled free from the frenzy. The enormous monster screamed as the hook remained dug into it, Link flying into the fish's side and holding on tightly. Gyorg began to scream, swimming around madly as he tried to shake the boy and the hook from its body. It was useless; the hook remained latched deeply and the boy held on for dear life.

Already he was running out of air, though, and Link timed when he released the hookshot just right. The last time Gyorg flung him, he pressed the button, and Link used that momentum to send him shooting out of the water back onto the platform. He landed hard, lapping up quite a bit of water with him. The boy took hardly any time to recover, getting to his feet too quickly. He collapsed, still firmly gripping onto the hookshot as he slipped and fell. Link looked up to see the mask salesman with Evan's mask in hand, looking up pale and ghostly, Tatl beside him and frightened. "_Link_...," the mask salesman said, his dark eyes fierce.

Gyorg roared from underwater.

Link crawled from the edge as quickly as he could, his Gilded Sword laying nearby. He scrambled for it, hearing the water bubbling from behind. The boy slipped again, landing on his face as he heard the giant fish break free of the water, his hand still far from his sword. He could hear the sound of the sharp teeth baring to eat him as the beast flew at him from behind.

"_No!_" Link screamed, trying once more to rise to his feet only to fall again. He cowered on the floor and waited for the worst.

He was surprised when Gyorg missed, his body falling onto the platform beside him. Link opened his eyes to see the scaly fish skin right in front of his face, the beast simply lying there. The boy, this time, managed to scramble to his feet, looking confused. Something had caused the giant fish to fall and completely miss mid-flight. Link turned to see the mask salesman donning the Mask of Truth. He shakily held himself into a kneeling position, staring into the green eyes of the giant fish with the red eye of the mask.

Gyorg's eyes were wild, dilating crazily as it laid on the stage as if it were a beached whale. It twitched violently, unable to remove its eyes from the piercing gaze of the singular golden iris, the mocking red smile watching indifferently. Link backed away, still breathing in and out heavily, as he watched the giant fish writhe, foam beginning to bubble from its mouth. It appeared to have the shaking sickness, Link in awe at it twitching so violently from the powers of such a small mask. The sorcerer must have invaded its mind and was completely destroying it.

Link saw how weakly the mask salesman was holding himself up, however, and knew he couldn't do it for much longer. Link grabbed his Gilded Sword and walked up to the twitching face of Gyorg. He held his blade high over its face, dripping wet and shining gold, and plunged into the side of its head. The foaming stopped, and the giant beast gave one last lurch as it became still, blood seeping out to spread across the platform.

Link removed his sword and backed away, still panting. He almost slipped again, looking down to see that it had been on blood. The scene was horrifically gory. Red was smeared all across the glowing blue surface of the stage, thick and bubbly as it mixed with the seawater. The mask salesman lied himself down on its surface when his strength gave out.

Link walked to his side, falling to his knees beside him as he began to try to help him up again. "We did it," the boy said, unsure how to comfort him, as the mask salesman laid on the ground. The Mask of Truth was slowly slid back into his robes, and he smiled faintly, his dark eyes looking on the giant, dead fish.

"_I guess we did_." Link saw the sorcerer's teeth were just as blood stained as the rest of him. His smile quickly faded, however, and he squinted his eyes in pain as he took out the All-Night mask and wore it once more. The boy looked up when he heard a familiar hissing noise coming from Gyorg's corpse.

It's body began to flake away, much as Odolwa's had, peeling off and disappearing into the air into a thin, black smoke that quickly faded away. The entire mass of dead fish was soon gone – save for the face. The mask of the terrifying sea creature remained standing on its side, its green eyes now blank and wooden, the foam dripping from its dead teeth and collecting on the stage underneath. Gyorg's remains began to pulsate a deep blue light, much brighter than the illuminated panels on their stage.

Soon, a burst of white light shone from it, slowly expanding to wash over Link, Tatl, and the mask salesman. The three of them naturally retracted from it, but soon the light was gone, continuing through the walls of the room and vanishing. All that remained was the mask, levitating over the place where Gyorg had been defeated. It still glowed blue, its bright light powerful and alluring as the mask spun slowly.

The three of them exchanged glances, but the mask salesman quickly doubled over in pain again. Link hadn't even noticed that his robe was still pulled over his chest; it was now burnt so black that there was hardly a difference between it and the garment. The sorcerer covered the fried skin again, looking rather terrified as he made himself stop looking at it. The boy saw Tatl's gaze was haggard and old; the pirate's arrow and the fish's attacks had done as much mental damage to her as it had physical to them.

"It's going to be okay," Link said, looking down at the crippled, dying man. He remembered seeing him at the bottom of the clock tower in a similar position, once he'd sent him over the railing. This time, however, it hadn't been his own fault. _Or had it?_

He'd hardly given himself time to reflect on the matter, but suddenly he remembered leaving that same pirate alive in the fortress. Link had been given the opportunity to strike her down, but had shown her mercy. _Not killing her was as bad of a decision as killing the mask salesman would have been._ Suddenly, Link felt his heart throbbing, matters of life and death constantly all around him, and the consequences were always far reaching.

The mask salesman shook his head, eyes squeezed shut from behind the mask keeping him alive. "It _is_," Link repeated, beginning to put his arms underneath him. The mask salesman wasn't a heavy man, but Link was still a boy, albeit strong for his age. He decided against turning into a goron and having them both running with fever, or into a Zora where his fish wounds would slow him down. Link instead did the best he could, walking relatively quickly to Gyorg's mask with the dark sorcerer in his arms. "We're going to take you to the clock tower, so we can go back to Hyrule and get more medicine." He looked to Tatl, to see her looking at him strangely. "... Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," she said weakly. "Let's get him to Clock Town."

Link nodded his head, and Tatl touched his shoulder as he reached out for the glowing mask. The room gave way to a golden aura, and their ears rang as Great Bay Temple melted away.

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

**EDLDS3.15149** (it may have been a typo, but you wrote pi wrong this time)**:** I'm glad you thought so! And this chapter should have answered that question. He actually doesn't have all of his masks on his person, including the Bremen mask. But you got the other five right, and this chapter revealed the two others. At the time, they were still secrets!

**That Guy:** Interesting theory, regarding the old man! ... That I won't confirm or deny. The mask salesman's name also seems to be an important plot point thus far too... As for the Fierce Deity theory, that's been brought up many times before, and my portrayal of the black mark definitely seems to draw many parallels with it. The eye color difference is one I've noticed to, however, and I will say that it does not necessary disprove your theory. All excellent points.

**Guest:** Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

**Santiago:** Thank you very much! I'm glad you were able to follow Link's train of thought. That's one of the hardest things to do with a plot twist like this: making the character's reactions and interactions believable/justifiable given their personalities and pasts. And it is most definitely full-fledged book length. I've actually never read a book longer than this story. It's almost like the arcs themselves should be treated as individual stories in a series, given the massive word count of this labyrinth of a narrative. 400,000+ words is more than I thought it was, when I started comparing it to novels I'd read... even with author notes and replies taken into account.


	52. Swan Song

Note: I want to have all of the parts to this arc's conclusion done before I start posting them, as it actually starts with Chapter 53. There may be a little bit of a delay before the next post.

* * *

_Chapter 52: Swan Song_

This time Tatl was with him.

The giant stood far away. The sky was a dream-like shade of blue, waving around the water that poured from the heavens into the clouds. The brightness was surreal, but the boy's eyes adjusted quicker this time. The large, oddly shaped creature was still hard to make out, however, the paradise foggy as it separated them from the tall column they stood upon.

It sung the same beautiful, majestic song. The boy thought it sounded much sadder than the previous renditions, turning to look at Tatl. She seemed to have aged thirty years in the past thirty minutes, staring off at the giant with wide eyes, hardly taking in its beauty as she had in Woodfall. It was then that Link noted someone was missing.

"Where's the mask salesman?" Link asked. He'd touched Gyorg's mask while holding him, and now he was gone.

"Waiting for us," Tatl answered distantly. "Like the monkeys did." Link's attention was returned to the singing, however, as the notes the giant struck became more melancholy. The boy equipped his ocarina and joined. The sadness seemed to become apart of him, as he played. But almost as soon as the song began, it ended.

Link and Tatl remained standing on the lone platform together, staring at the giant. "Please...," Tatl said. The boy turned his head as the fairy flew forth, speaking out into the blurry world around them. "Please help us. We want you to lend us your power." Her voice was thick with grief. "We're losing. We're not winning this fight. If you just leave things as they are, something terrible will happen to this world."

The giant paused, listening to what she had to say. Then it began to speak, its voice deep, melodic, and hard to understand. "Help our friend."

_The last giant?_ Link thought. He wasn't quite sure, but it didn't wait for them to ask. It began to sing again as everything faded, its voice rich with a longing for something lost long ago.

* * *

The sound of the ocean returned first. The weight of the mask salesman was next, and Link almost dropped him. Gyorg's mask spun at his feet, landing flatly on the rock floor. They were on the small outcrop of land behind Zora Hall, the ocean foaming and loud as it dashed against the dark rock. The waves appeared bigger and stronger; it was the night of the second day. The sun appeared to have just set, but the ominous moon far behind them was already beginning to affect Great Bay. The temple, shaped like a fish, could now be distinguished in the distance, the dark cloud gone.

The giant turtle seemed to have been waiting for Link to return. The two palm trees still swayed on his back, as he watched Link appear, the dying man in his arms. The mask salesman was pale and fragile, his cloak as soaked with water as it was blood. He still wore the All-Night mask, stirring feebly beneath it. Tatl twinkled beside him, her face grim.

"Now I can continue resting in peace," the turtle began, speaking in its booming, godly voice to the three mortals before it. "I too must abide the laws of ancient times and again merely watch from my deep slumber. But the evil that haunts this land has not completely vanished, Link. I'll depart after enjoying Lulu's voice a bit longer. I think the gods can permit that." He smiled, but he received no such response from either the boy or his fairy.

"How?" Tatl asked, flying forward. She sounded as desperate as she had when speaking to the giant. "How can we defeat the evil? Link and the mask salesman are marked, and we can't even free the temples without almost dying." The turtle didn't say anything, and the mask salesman moaned, his eyes hidden behind the red gaze of his mask. They were quick to remember how urgent their situation was, and Link wondered how they would get back to shore.

"Tatl," Link said. The fairy reluctantly turned from the turtle who refused to answer her question. "Can you watch the mask salesman while I try to find a boat?"

"Why don't we just play the Song of Time?"

"Because we don't have Epona yet," he replied. "And even if we did, the mask salesman might not teleport with us. Remember when I was touching Epona last time I played the song? She came back with us, but she didn't come to the doors with us. I'm not risking the same thing with him."

Tatl nodded, and Link laid the sorcerer down as he ran into Zora Hall.

A Zora he didn't recognize was the first to see him run by. She watched him pass with suspicion, her dark eyes following him. Link wondered what she had heard about him. _The boy with the demon eyes. The boy who was possessed by dark magic. The boy who killed Mikau and tried to kill Lulu. The skin-changer and dark wizard. _Or was he the hero sent to save them?

He remembered what the mask salesman had said when introducing himself under the tower. _I __was known in Hyrule as the Man of Many Faces, or the Man without a Face, the Dealer of Faces, the Mask Thief, the Dark Sorcerer... It's amazing how much easier people fear you when they don't know your name._ But they knew his name, didn't they? Did that make it any better?

The waterfall was still loud and pristine behind the ornate clam stage. He rounded the pool, ignoring the other Zoras as he knocked on Lulu's door. "Lulu, it's me," the boy stated, turning to see the others staring at him. He wondered if they were afraid to approach him, or if they simply trusted him. The beautiful Zora answered the door. She wore a different dress, yet it was still as gorgeous as her delicate fins.

"Link?" her black eyes were searching. "Did you do it? Was that flash of white light you?"

"Yes, I saved the temple," he said. "But I need your help. My friend is dying; I need a boat."

"Your fairy?" she stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. "What about the moon? Did you stop it? Where's Evan?"

Link's stomach lurched. "I'm sorry." He found it hard to meet her eyes, and turned away. "He didn't make it." Lulu's mouth opened wide, but her gasp was silent. Her hands went to her mouth as Link turned to face her again. "But I need your help, because my friend is going to die, too. He can't swim back to shore, but I need to get him to Clock Town."

"I... Evan's dead?"

"Lulu, I'm sorry," Link said, taking a step closer to her. "But I need your help right now. Every second we waste could make the difference." At first, all she could do was stare at him. Her black eyes were deep wells, and he was almost afraid to keep staring into them, less he get lost. He felt like he was going to be sick, but his heart still hammered furiously as his race to the clock tower doors continued. "Please."

"Okay," she replied, rather distantly.

"Thanks." He realized he sounded rather frantic, but he knew there wasn't time to properly explain or be polite. _She'll be dead anyways after the moon falls. _He stopped for a moment, shocked that the thought had run across his own mind. Lulu seemed to notice, but her eyes were filled with tears. "I'm sorry," Link said again. "I tried to save him. I really did."

She nodded her head as the tears began to fall. "A boat. You can find one over there." She pointed in the direction of the shop. "You can have it." Lulu spoke sweetly and softly, not bringing any attention to how wounded she looked.

Link's heart fell even more. _The mask salesman and I came here and destroyed their lives._ But the Skull Kid had first. And the moon would last. _But they're just shadows, right?_ How could she possibly be a shadow, when her eyes were filled with so much loss?

* * *

Tatl watched the waves dashing against the shore violently. The sea was an angry mix of foam and dark blue, the green hidden under the guise of night. She watched as the turtle became a dot on the horizon, eventually disappearing all together. It had never answered her question.

Her mind was numb. Tatl watched the ocean but felt like she was dead. She tried to grasp the moment the pirate's arrow had struck the sorcerer, and how it had made her feel. Instantly, all of their new hope had been turned upside-down, and then there had been a bloodbath in the room below. She felt like she should be sad, but all she felt was emptiness.

The mask salesman coughed below her, pulling his masked face weakly away from the sea spray. The fairy looked down at him, his black robes dark with red. He turned to face her with his painted eyes, rolling onto his back. Despite how pale and shrunken he looked, he smiled at her, his lips visible from behind the grating. Tatl only stared, not returning the gesture.

His smile faded, and he looked away. "Do you remember the talk we had in that cave? When I first kidnapped you?"

"Yes," Tatl responded, looking away herself. It was easier to gaze at the monstrous waves than the dying man. Great Bay Temple appeared odd without the dark cloud swirling around it. "Except it wasn't much of a conversation. I was stuffed away in a bottle, and you kept telling me to shut up." The mask salesman's demeanor fell even more after that, and he curled further into his ball. She wondered if that was due to the pain or the ice in her voice. She swallowed when she realized how sharp the words had come out. "You told me you would kill me, if I ever asked about the shadow you tried to bring out of Termina again."

The mask salesman seemed to hear her but did not turn around. Either it physically hurt too much, or he had decided he liked the sea spray on his head after all. He stared out at the dark skyline, and Tatl joined him from above. "If you and Link succeed, what do you plan to do afterwards?" the sorcerer asked. His voice continued to grow weaker, and his body was beginning to shiver. "If Link stays in Termina, he'll eventually turn into a shadow and forget who he is. And you can't follow him to Hyrule."

Tatl had been keeping similar thoughts to herself for a while. She hardly reacted, continuing to stare at the horizon. "I don't know," she said. She thought her voice sounded like it was void of life, even though the mask salesman was the one dying beneath her. "I highly doubt we'll have to worry about that anyways. We'll probably both be dead before the end of it all."

The mask salesman shifted, but Tatl noticed how he twitched in pain afterwards, clearly having miscalculated his ability to move. As she turned to look down on the feeble man, she realized that at any moment he could slip away, and simply not respond to her next comment. Tatl turned back to the ocean and decided that, of all places to die, this wasn't so bad. It was beautiful, despite the growing anger in the water.

But he responded despite it all. "Did you know the person who shot me?"

"Yes. She was the leader of the Pirates' Fortress. Link had a chance to kill her on the first day, but he didn't. Clearly mercy is a luxury we can't afford."

"You showed me mercy."

"And now you're dying anyways." She paused. Tatl wondered if the mask salesman really believed he would live to see another day. She wondered if Link _still_ believed that was a possibility.

The stretch of silence that followed went on for a long while, until Tatl finally summoned the courage to continue the conversation. "How did you think you were going to die?"

"What?"

"We all want to think we'll die doing something heroic, or that our death will be meaningful some how. We try not to think about it most of the time, but when we do, we want to think we won't just die... getting shot in the back by someone we've never met. We want to die with our lives lived and remembered."

He took several minutes to respond. "How do you think you're going to die? As someone who's not lying on their deathbed."

Tatl's lips parted, but she couldn't find words at first. "If I'm Navi, then you've already killed me." The words chilled even herself as she spoke them. "If I'm the first Tatl, then the Skull Kid has already killed me." It was no wonder that she felt so dead, and that the tears wouldn't fall. "Am I... just going to fade away, eventually? Is that what it means to be a shadow? I can't even remember... my time with Tael anymore. Before the Skull Kid.

"If I live long enough, will I forget this? Everything feels so... meaningless. I know what I am, but I don't understand it. I don't understand how everything I feel could be so fake."

"Then why do you believe it?"

"What?" She turned from the horizon.

"I think there's more to this realm than darkness... now. I think... I was wrong." Tatl was surprised to hear the words come from his mouth. Rain began to fall around them, lightly pattering on the stone and erupting in small puddles on the surface of the water.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, confused. He was the last person she would have ever expected to be espousing the hope Link had for this land.

"Because," he began, his voice shaking. "If it was nothing but darkness... I..." He stammered, but at that moment someone came onto the rock with them. Tatl turned to see that Link had returned, carrying a small row boat with two other Zoras helping. They placed the wooden vessel into the stormy sea, holding it against the rock as the boy turned to face the fairy and sorcerer.

The rain had begun to increase, the water sliding across Link's blood-stained face. "We have to hurry," he said, his blue eyes resolute. Tatl uncertainly nodded her head as Link grabbed the mask salesman and stepped into the boat. He did so with some difficultly, but the Zoras helped him while holding the boat in place.

Eventually, the mask salesman was lying at its bottom, back down as he stared up at the dark, gray sky. Link sat at the front, back to the shore far in the distance as he grabbed an oar in each hand. He looked up at the Zoras who had helped him and nodded, beginning to row away from Zora Hall. The boy did not wait for the fairy, as Tatl remained on the rocky ledge while he sailed away.

She watched as Link looked up from the man in his boat to her, still waiting on the ledge. His blue eyes cut through the sheath of rain, as the waves sent the boat rocking up and down violently. Tatl turned around before she flew to join Link.

The Zoras remained standing and watching, as the boy sailed off. The singer stood behind them, and her dark eyes found the fairy's. Lulu's face was tear stained, her face as blank as Tatl's as she watched Link leave.

* * *

Each stride was harder than the next, but he dug the oars deep into the water and pushed them forward nonetheless. The boat rocked dangerously across the wavy surface below them. It wasn't quite as cataclysmic as his visit to Great Bay on the final night, but the rain didn't make the rowing any easier. Water lapped into the vessel as it pattered down from above, the researcher's laboratory not that much further. The shoreline would be a short distance from its other side.

Tatl had been flying by the boat until the rain became too intense. She now rested on top of the wooden planks, possibly because she didn't want to ride below them with the mask salesman. The sorcerer still remained there, his eyes looking up blankly at the sky as his skin became paler and more drawn. The elements weren't helping, but Link hadn't been given much of a choice.

He paddled past the laboratory and continued onward, the waves calmer as they approached the shore. The rain didn't cease, however, and their landing was less than perfect. It scraped against the sandy bottom horrifically, a wave crashing behind to topple the boat over. Link landed face down into the shallow water, his face hitting the sand. The boy quickly got to his feet as the boat plopped heavily down. He dragged the mask salesman out of the water with him as Tatl stretched her wings.

Link, carrying the sorcerer, walked through the rain into the fisherman's white wall surrounding his land. Epona was reigned nearby, the rain pattering on her head relentlessly. She hung it down sadly, and Link felt anger rise within him when he realized she didn't have any shelter. Thankfully, it had been only raining for half an hour. The pail at her feet was now overflowing with water, however, the food barrel empty.

Epona raised her head excitedly at the boy's appearance, raising her front legs in celebration. Link smiled wanly as he carried the mask salesman towards her. "_Hey!_" Link spun around. The fisherman was waiting in the door to his hut, just as large and shirtless as he had been before. However, this time he had a loaded crossbow, and it was pointed at him. "What do you think you're doing?!" He aimed from inside, sheltered from the rain. The distance between them was only several feet, the sand beneath them becoming wet and sloshy.

"Taking my horse back," Link said firmly. _I don't have time for this._ The rain continued falling heavily, the mask salesman looking up from his arms sheepishly. "I came here a day and a half earlier and asked you to watch my horse."

The fisherman kept the loaded crossbow aimed in their direction, eying them suspiciously from over its wooden surface, arrow sharpened and glistening. Eventually, he lowered it, but his look of distaste did not subside. "I didn't recognize you with the rain," he said, remaining in the doorway. "I thought you were a thief."

Link didn't wait for him to say anything else, turning to the masked sorcerer. "Do you think you can sit up?" The mask salesman nodded weakly, and Link set him down by his feet. He fell against Epona, but Link helped him climb the young mare's back. Eventually, he was seated behind her, his body much too big for the horse, but capable of riding her nonetheless. The mask salesman grimaced in pain, using Epona's head for support as he leaned forward against her neck.

Link began to untie his horse, who continued nuzzling her nose up against his hand playfully. He continued untangling the reigns in spite of it, until eventually her playful efforts were too much to ignore. "_Epona!_" The horse retracted immediately, her happiness fading at Link's reproach. The boy sighed, finally giving in and petting her noise. "I'm sorry, girl. We just have to hurry. They'll be plenty of time to catch up, okay?"

He finished freeing her and then turned to face Tatl, who had been silent the entire journey. "You guys going back to town?" Link's attention was once again returned to the fisherman.

"Yes." The fat man seemed like he wanted to say something else, but didn't. Link wasted no time, climbing up onto Epona himself in between the mask salesman and her neck. He found he had to lean against her as well, while the sorcerer leaned and clutched onto him from behind. The boy noticed that the sorcerer's hands were shaking with the effort, and so he was quick to lead his horse out of the fisherman's gate.

Link turned to look at the shoreline as he passed. It was only filled with terrible memories. They'd arrived to Great Bay with a fresh slate, finally reunited and convinced to make this section the best of the three so far. Everything had fallen apart anyways, as it always did. They'd freed the giant, but now they were leaving it with even more emotional baggage than before. There had only been more death and darkness.

_A realm of shadows._ Link looked behind at the man who'd told him that, now clinging to him for survival. The boy kicked his heels into Epona, and then he ran through the nighttime rain for Clock Town.

* * *

Her mind was blank as her feet mechanically took her to Mikau's room. The rock beneath her feet was as cool and wet as always, her hands clasped in front of her chest as her mouth remained agape. Lulu didn't even notice the tears burning down her cheeks.

She opened the door to his bedroom, hardly stepping inside. Tijo looked up from his drum set across the room, having been busily practicing some song she vaguely recognized. His expression fell at the sight of her, and the large drummer stood up from his chair, taking a step away from it. "Lulu? What's wrong?"

"Evan's dead too." She spoke behind a tear-veiled voice, her words weak. They almost caught in the back of her throat. Tijo took a moment to process what she had said, merely standing there with confused, black eyes.

"How?"

"I don't know," Lulu answered, shaking her head slowly. "The boy came back from the temple with a dying man in his arms, and no Evan. He said he'd died, but I think he freed the temple. I..."

"The moon?"

Lulu shook her head, her eyes now blinded by the tears. Tijo began to make his way over towards her as she leaned up against the wall. "_It's still there_," she said. "_It's going to crush us._" Tijo held her in his arms, holding her tightly. His embrace was soft and warm, and she pressed her face against his shoulder. "_They're gone. They're both gone, and they died for nothing._"

"Don't say that," Tijo said, still hugging her as they stood at the door. "You don't know that." She didn't respond, only sobbing for the longest time, until she remembered something.

"I... I have to go..." Lulu broke from his hug suddenly, backing away into the hall surrounding the clam.

"What?" the large Zora asked, confused again as he looked up. He seemed just as sad as she was, but no tears fell.

"I'm sorry... I can't stay here any longer..." Lulu ran, and Tijo reached out a hand to stop her. She heard him call out for her again, but the Zora continued to run, her long, delicate fins blowing behind her. She ran past any of the confused Zoras who tried to stop her. Lulu reached the cave at the entrance of the hall and dove into the water, swimming out into the open waters of Great Bay.

Her body elegantly cut through the sea, underneath the stormy waves that threatened to destroy any who traveled above. She could hear the rain hitting its surface, but the sky above it was dark and cloudy, the sun no where to be seen. Lulu swam away from the shore, back out from the cove to curve around towards a different shore. She traveled swiftly, her mind set on its destination. With Evan and Mikau dead, and the strange boy free, they wouldn't have let her leave. Not with so much uncertainty. But she had to. She _had_ to.

Lulu reached the wooden deck and pulled herself up to it, climbing the ladder to the second platform and opening the door to the thick, metal ball. The elderly man was in the back at his table, and he looked up from his work to see the Zora at the door. His eyes widened in shock, setting down his instruments lightly. Lulu didn't have eyes for him, however.

She stared at the giant fish tank. Seven young, tadpole-like Zoras swam about in its waters. The tank took up the entire back half of the room, it standing tall with a ladder beside it. The babies danced around playfully, interacting with one another pedantically and carefree. They seemed to have already grown quite a bit since their hatching.

Lulu gasped, running across the floor to its glass surface. She pressed her face against it, smiling now as the tears rolled down even harder than before. "They're alive_,_" she said, her voice shaking. She half laughed as she remained in front of the glass, her smile reflected back to her just barely as she watched her children. "My babies. He didn't lie this time."

Lulu slid down the length of the glass and fell at its bottom, face against it and smiling broadly through the tears. Two of the young Zoras swam down to greet her, long tails wagging as their large black eyes remained an inch from her own. "You're here," she said gently, the researcher remaining behind her. Her fingers lightly stroked the glass.

"You look just like your father_._" She kept her face pressed into the tank and closed her eyes, hugging its cool surface as she laid there. _Remember this moment_, she thought to herself. _It's the last happy one you'll ever have._

* * *

Epona's hooves thundered loudly on the wet grass. He leaned forward eagerly, riding directly into the rain as the horse lowered her head too. They traveled swiftly, the fairy following quickly from behind. The mask salesman's grip on his back continued to weaken, but he remained in the saddle as well, leaning on the boy.

Epona approached the wall separating Great Bay from Clock Town and jumped. She wasn't as successful as her previous attempt. Her hooves caught on the bottom bars, so she stumbled when hitting the sand on the other side. She was able to recover without flinging anyone from her saddle, however, and Link urged her onward. "_Come on Epona! We're almost there._" The horse obeyed. Link looked behind himself at the sorcerer worriedly. His wooden eyes looked off at Termina Field distantly, the man not appearing very aware. He looked like he might already be dead, but his grip on Link reminded him otherwise.

The horse's hooves hit stone when she reached the staircase, and Epona slowed to a walk upon reaching it. They traveled up the staircase and past the two fountains on either side. Clock Town's massive wall was looming over them, the clock tower hardly visibly above it from their angle. The mare didn't stop, despite her caution, and soon the floor leveled out. The Western Gate was just before them.

Link sighed with relief. _We made it._ He only hoped they weren't too late. Link approached the entrance slowly, as the rain was still loud around him. Tatl followed him, curiously looking at the same thing the boy was: there was a guard outside of this gate. Though he was standing within the wall to avoid the rain, he wasn't inside of the town; guards were never posted outside the walls.

Link slowed down his horse while the guard remained standing, as if to block off the entrance. He felt the mask salesman move behind him, trying to see for himself as well, Tatl twinkling as she got a better look. The guard's armor was cleaned, wet, and polished. He thrust his spear into the ground as the boy approached on his horse.

"I'm afraid I can't let you in." The tall, powerful guard spoke firmly and resolutely, standing his post. Link, Tatl, and the mask salesman exchanged confused glances.

"My friend," Link began, speaking up to be heard over the rain, "he's hurt." He spoke from far above the guard on his horse, but the man in armor acted as if this were not the case. "We just want to pass inside and get him help."

"I'm under strict orders to grant no one admittance to Clock Town. Without exceptions."

"But he's going to die," Link said, suddenly feeling the anger and sadness building inside of him again. _No. This can't be happening._ Could the gods really be so cruel? "We've gone in and out of town freely the entire time we've been here. And now that I ride here with a dying man who needs help, you tell me I can't enter?"

"The mayor and his wife are dead," the guard answered.

Link's heart skipped a beat. He looked up at the top of the city wall, as if expecting to see something he hadn't noticed before. Nothing was there, however, and he looked at his fairy and dying companion once more. Neither one seemed to understand. The mask salesman actually began to straighten himself, though, using what little strength he had left to appear more attentive. "How is that possible?" he asked aloud.

"What do you mean?" the guard asked, sounding annoyed. "They were ripped to shreds. Their entire residence looks like the inside of some slaughterhouse. They were murdered in cold-blood, killed without a shred of human dignity. And the murderer is no where to be found. The city is in a panic, and we're not allowing anyone in or out."

Link looked up again, except this time at the moon hanging above the town. He turned back to the guard. "We're not the murderers," Link tried one last time, pushing aside the impossibility of such a turn of events. "I'm just a boy on a horse, with a friend who's going to die if you don't let us enter."

"I'm sorry. I can't."

"But you're a guard, you're supposed to protect the people."

"That's exactly what I'm doing." The Clock Town guard then aimed his spear at Epona, who reared back from it. "_Now go!_"

Link drew his Gilded Sword, now looking down angrily at the guard at the gate. "Link..." The boy turned his head; the mask salesman had spoken weakly behind him. His fake, red eyes were bold against his ghostly face, but they met his blue ones. "... Don't... Let's just find shelter..." Link looked back at the guard, who still angrily had his spear set out.

"Listen to your friend, boy." Link gripped his sword angrily, wanting nothing more than to cut down the man before him. _We could kill him, run through the town, and make it to the doors before they could stop us._ But if the town truly was in a panic, then maybe that wasn't the case. And this guard wasn't the only one.

"Let's go." The sorcerer had spoken again.

Tatl spoke next, flying down in front. "He's right, Link. Let's just go."

His head hung down sadly as he sheathed his sword and turned his horse away. The guard kept his eyes on them as they began to leave. _We can't give up_, Link thought. _There's still hope. We can fix this._ "Where are we going?"

"I think I know where," Tatl said. "Follow me."

The fairy flew ahead of the horse, and Link reluctantly lead Epona to follow Tatl. The rain merely continued to thicken, but he lead her along as quickly as he could nonetheless. The mask salesman bent himself back down again, leaning against Link as they went onward. His grip was even weaker.

_ We can't let that pirate win_. He'd let her live. _He'd_ done that. And this was the consequence. Tatl spoke out whenever he stole or killed while in Great Bay, but look what being the good guy had done to them. They were being the good guys by freeing the giants and saving the world; so what if they had to step on a few people to get there?

Then he felt the fingers on his sides tighten weakly, and remembered that the mask salesman had considered him a pawn on some chest board as well. As soon as the sorcerer had changed his mind for the 'better,' though, look where it had gotten him. _No. He's not better. He's evil. You've never done anything nearly as bad as him._ But the words sounded empty in his own head. He realized that, had he never heeded Tatl's advice, he would have slit the mask salesman's throat to begin with. _Or would I have?_

He was still determined to save him. Link realized they were beginning to veer away from the town walls when they entered the southern area. The boy was confused as they began to ride into Termina Field, Link slowing down his horse. _Where are we going?_ _Koume and Kotake?_ That was a very long ride, but even if they did make it before the mask salesman died, they might not even be able to heal him. _They did heal me in the exact same condition._ Then he remembered that wasn't the case. They'd had light magic in his wound to help the healing process.

Link froze, stopping Epona when he realized where they were headed. The fairy was flying towards an overturned log. It was shelter enough to hide out the rain, but that was all it was – shelter. _Are we giving up then?_ The boy remained standing outside of the log, the rain continuing to soak him to his bones. He looked to the mask salesman, who was still attentive despite how pale and weak he was.

His eyes were fake, looking at the log eagerly. Link turned to see that Tatl was waiting for him at its entrance. The boy swallowed, eyes downcast as he slowly made his way to its shelter. It was just large enough for his horse to enter as well, but not while he was on top of her. Link slid off of Epona's back and helped the mask salesman off as well. The sorcerer almost fell, though, grimacing in pain as the boy caught him.

With the man leaning on his shoulder, Link began to walk him towards the entrance to log, motioning Epona to follow just behind. The boy froze again, however, when he saw something else inside of the log. Tatl was staring at it too.

A corpse in a white dress was lying on the grass against the side of the log. She was a little girl, her pretty face covered in a sheen of tangled, dark hair. Her dress was blood stained, and she was all alone. Link and Tatl exchanged a glance, the mask salesman's eyes fearfully beholding the small child. He knew he would soon join her.

Epona was scared to enter the log at first, eying the body nervously, but eventually she decided it was better than staying in the rain. It clattered loudly on the outside of the wood, echoing in its depths rather spectacularly. Link lead the mask salesman to a portion of the log distanced from the dead girl, and laid him down against the wooden wall. As soon as the boy let him go, however, the mask salesman fell lightly to his side, shriveling into a ball as he laid there. He shook terribly, his pale face lying on the grass. "I'm so cold."

There was nothing Link could do to fix that, lighting clashing across the sky brilliantly with a grumble of thunder following. The boy remained kneeling in front of the mask salesman, with the fairy at his side and his horse just behind. "Do you have any idea who killed the mayor?" Link asked, the mask salesman keeping his eyes closed as he laid there and shook. His dark robes still appeared black, only a very deep, reddish tint existing where the blood had been soaked in.

"No," he responded weakly.

Link turned to Tatl, but she shook her head to show that she had no answers either. "It doesn't make sense. The only people capable of doing evil like that, defying the time line in such an extreme way, are the Skull Kid and..." He stopped when he realized what he was about to say.

"Me?" the mask salesman finished for him, speaking from behind the All-Night Mask. "Why not the imp?"

"It could be, but the last we saw him, Majora seemed really furious with him, and he killed Dark Link."

This appeared to be news to the mask salesman, who looked up interestedly. "You saw this when your scar activated at Zora Hall?" Link nodded, and the sorcerer laid his head back against the ground. As if in response to having discussed his scar, the man pulled his robes down to examine his own. His chest was now as pitch-black as his robe, the scar now completely darkening his torso. The mask salesman quickly covered it, not wanting to look as he rested his hand back down.

Link's eyes sadly looked on him, but he wasn't sure what else to say. "Is that it?" Tatl asked, the boy surprised to hear her speak. He turned his head to see Tatl's face maintaining the same expressionless gaze. "You don't want to try to get more medicine in Hyrule?"

"It won't work," the mask salesman said. "The only thing that can keep me alive is this, but..." His long, pale, spidery fingers removed the eerie mask, lying it on his side. His dark eyes were once again revealed, but it was the pale, shrunken face behind it that terrified Link. He probably would have died long ago, had he not been wearing it. "Why go on living when your body is already dying?" the mask salesman asked, coughing horribly and ending the wane smile that had appeared on his lips. Blood began to come up. The sorcerer looked at the red spittle that fell on his trembling hands. He decided against doing anything about it, turning painfully on his back as he laid there and looked up. Link and Tatl remained there in front of him for what seemed like the longest time, the boy's eyes lingering on the All-Night Mask. The mask salesman remained lying there, staring up at the wooden roof and occasionally glancing at the girl.

"It's really happening?" the sorcerer inquired, his voice hardly escaping the dark, paling lips. His words ended the long minutes of silence, and the boy and his fairy returned their attention to him. Epona fell to her feet, lying down now in the protection of the log. "I've seen so much death in my life, and now I guess it's finally my turn." The mask salesman turned to them, the smile on his face appearing hardly there.

"I didn't want it to end like this. It feels so premature. I was... supposed to make up... for the terrible things I'd done." Link didn't have anything to say to that, his blue eyes holding whatever he felt deep within. _And what exactly do I feel?_ he thought. He wasn't entirely sure.

The mask salesman turned to him suddenly, eyes bright. "Link, I think you can do it." There was genuine happiness on the dark sorcerer's face, as he lay so weakly. "The light magic you have... This realm. I think there's more capable here than... than j-just darkness." His excitement began to fade, suddenly, as the mask salesman grew to look more worried. "Maybe it's not just a realm of shadows after all."

His eyes flickered to Tatl, who seemed to be expressing emotion for the first time since he was shot. She was sad, looking down on the tall man with a strained face. "It means a lot to hear you say that," Tatl said sincerely.

The mask salesman smiled again, but then he turned to Link and was worried. "I didn't want to be a bad person," he said, shaking his head, as the sorcerer's eyes began to glisten. He shakily pulled off one of his gloves to reveal a ring underneath: it had a red and blue stone woven into its small band. Tears were pooling in his eyes as he looked at it, dropping the glove on the ground. "I'm not. I..." He paused, as if suddenly remembering something. He reached into his robes to pull out one of his masks. It was the Mask of Truth, and it had a red eye at its center, staring outward. "I want you to r-read me..."

"What?" Link asked, not understanding.

"I want you to know everything about me," he said suddenly, his voice choked as the first of the tears ran down his cheek. "Please. In case there's something I've missed... something I've forgotten. That could help you stop the mask forever. And because..." He paused. "... I want you to know. I want you to know, so you don't make the same mistakes I did."

The boy tentatively reached out for the white mask, looking at Tatl uncertainly. "I don't..."

"Please. I want to die... knowing that someone knows... who I was. Because I've forgotten. And I want someone to remember before... b-before... I'm gone forever..."

The ring sparkled on the hand offering the mask to him. Link grasped the cool mask in his hands, bringing it before him. "How do I do it?" Link asked, his voice as sullen as Tatl's had been. He didn't know how he felt about this burden – making a dying man's life meaningful. Especially one whose was so caught up in his own in such a negative way.

"Just look into my eyes... and... and listen..." he said, smiling wanly. He looked off again, at the wooden wall beside him. "I was a man before... I promise... I _was_ a man..." He began to cry again, as Link took in a depth breath. He still wasn't sure what he was doing as he put the mask over his face.

Tatl looked away, unable to peer into its all-piercing glare. The boy gulped, waiting for the mask salesman to make eye contact. Eventually, he did.

Those dark, watery pools suddenly engulfed him, and the sky was brighter than he'd ever seen it before. He saw a village... a dark forest... a ring... a stone table... He felt anger... hate... love... sadness... deep grief... His head swam with people and places that he'd never known before, and they meant the world to him. He felt everything and watched, an observer to a life that he had never lived, it flashing before him in seconds.

Link gasped, sliding off of the wooden wall when it was done. The boy found himself shaking, the years of memories buzzing around in his head crazily. It was as if he'd absorbed another mind into his own. Link dropped the Mask of Truth, staring at the other side of the log as his blue eyes remained wide.

"_Link!_" Tatl exclaimed. She flew to Link's side, but the boy shook his head.

"I... I'm okay. I'm okay, Tatl." Link, then, stopped. He slowly turned his head to see the mask salesman lying beside him.

He laid there in the grass, staring up at Link with a worried expression on his face, breathing in deep, shallow breaths. The boy saw him as an entirely new person, and suddenly the dark eyes that shone before him burned brighter than anyone else's. _I understand him. Entirely._ He'd never understood another living thing as fully as he now grasped the mask salesman. He almost seemed like a child of his own, in that moment, dying. But the the sorcerer's eyes were no longer on the boy's.

The mask salesman looked at the fairy, and he smiled. He gave what might have been a laugh, or a final exhale, and then he was still. The smile slowly faded away, and his eyes now shone emptily. His head lolled to the side. The rain continued beating down loudly around them, and the ring shone brightly on his finger beside the All-Night Mask. His red hair glistened with water just above the grass.

Link looked away, still breathing in and out heavily. His hand trembled beside the Mask of Truth. "Tatl...," Link began. The fairy seemed worried, her gaze concerned. "The mask salesman... He..." The boy cut off, his mind still loud with the dead man's past.

"His name was Majora."

* * *

Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:

**Steph:** It did get rather intense there at the end! And I think Link's feelings towards the mask salesman are very complicated; being willing to let him die would, to me, imply that there was nothing but apathy and hate, which is not the case. As for it getting happier... it is a rather dark tale, but there seems to always be moments of brightness sprinkled throughout. But yay! One temple left!

**Quill:** Thank you so much! There are quite a few factors at play constantly in this story, which is one of the reasons I enjoy writing it so much. I think that's one of the ways to make sure that people stay interested and engaged in a story that is a novelization; the basic lay out for the story is already there (albeit bare and skeletal), so it's how those tidbits are picked up that can make or break it. Plus- I strive for it to be suspenseful and unpredictable... in a good way! Haha, I like how the name in front of "mask salesman" in reviews continues to grow as he changes. But a good thing to keep an eye on! Link and his alleged comparability. As for the longest story ever... yeah, I'm no where near 2 million and will most certainly not make it that far. But I appreciate the long review very much!

**EDLDS3.14159:** Thanks! And remember Link and Tatl's theory that things from outside of Termina go back in time with them... regardless of whether or not Link's touching them? It can be applied to people too, and it appears to have pretty much been proven by this point.

**That Guy:** Yep. The consequences for letting Aveil live appear rather grave. As for Sakon, his plot line will go somewhere eventually, it won't be left dangling; the setup for it was rather awkwardly placed, but there's so much happening all at once that it unfortunately came across that way. And wow... almost there!


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